Urinalysis Flashcards
What is urinalysis?
According to the skills for midwifery practice urinalysis is the testing of both the physical characteristics and the composition of freshly voided urine and is undertaken for the purposes of:
- Screening for systemic and renal disease
- Diagnosis:of a suspected condition
- Management and planning:as a baseline and for planning and monitoring care
What would you do before obtaining a urine sample?
As part of infection control it is vital to wash hands and don PPE as we are handling bodily fluids. As part of the NMC Code informed consent must be gained prior to obtaining the sample.
What are the three things in which we are looking for prior to testing?
Colour
Clarity
Odour
What could urine with a sweet odour indicate?
Presence of ketones
What can urobilinogen indicate?
Liver abnormalities/excessive haemolysis
What does bright red urine indicate?
Bleeding from the bladder
What does dark yellow urine indicate?
Dehydration
Urine with a fishy/offensive smell may indicate what?
Infection
Protein in urine (proteinuria) can indicate what?
Contaminated specimen, renal disease or pre-eclampsia
What can nitrates in urine indicate?
UTI (Urinary tract infection)
What can glucose in urine (glycosuria) indicate?
Blood glucose levels rise or if renal absorption lowers.
May indicate gestational diabetes or diabetes, can also be a normal physiological process in pregnancy due to glomerular filtration rate
What is an MSSU?
Mid-Stream Specimen of Urine
What can blood in urine (haematuria) indicate?
May indicate infection, trauma, tumour or calculi. It may be due to contamination from the vagina or haemorrhoids
What does green urine indicate?
Pseudomonas infection
Ketones in urine (ketonuria) can indicate what?
Excessive breakdown of body fats. This may occur due to fasting,dehydration,vomiting or uncontrolled diabetes