PATIENT INSTRUCTIONS
Important – Specimen labelling and delivery:
- Ensure full first and last names and date of birth (dd/mm/yy) are clearly written on the specimen tube
- Ensure date and time of collection is written on the request form and specimen tube
- It is important to take your urine specimen to your nearest Awanui Labs collection centre as soon as possible (within 2 hours); if there is a delay please keep the urine in the fridge.
Females
- Wash your hands
- Have a urine container ready
- Hold labia (lips of vagina) apart
- Pass a small amount of urine into the toilet – do not collect any of the 1st part of the urine
- Pass a small amount or urine into container (so that the middle part of urine is collected)
- Pass remaining urine into toilet
- Pull top off urine tube
- Pour urine from plastic container into tube, no more than half full and replace top.
Pregnant women
Midstream urine specimens from pregnant women are often contaminated with vaginal cells and bacteria due to natural changes associated with pregnancy.
If possible, it is best to collect your midstream urine immediately after taking a shower, following the above instructions.
Males
- Wash hands
- Pull foreskin back (if applicable)
- Have urine container ready
- Pass a small amount of urine into toilet and do not collect any of the 1st part of the urine
- Pass a small amount of urine into container (so that the middle part of urine is collected)
- Pass remaining urine into toilet
- Put foreskin back in place
- Pull top off urine tube
- Pour urine from plastic container into tube, no more than half full and replace top.
NOTE: Catheter Bag urine and Paediatric Bag urine samples for bacterial culture are not recommended and will not be processed by the laboratory. Growth usually indicates contamination with perineal flora and results should not be used to guide clinical management. Instead, a urine dipstick may be done on paediatric bag urine at point-of-care by healthcare provider to aid clinical decision making. Urine culture for the diagnosis of urinary tract infection requires a clean-catch sample as per HealthPathways guidance.
Date updated: 04/07/2024 PCS-PI-003
Authorised by: HOD, Patient Services