Major articleHow and when nurses collect urine cultures on catheterized patients: A survey of 5 hospitals

- We evaluated nurses for their knowledge, training, and practices on appropriate reasons for obtaining urine cultures in catheterized patients.
- Most nurses reported receiving education on catheter-associated urinary tract infection risk reduction and being compliant with the proper method to obtain urine cultures.
- Knowledge on when to obtain a urine culture was poor even for nurses who considered themselves to be adequately informed on the appropriate reasons to culture.

BackgroundObtaining a specimen for urine culture is a key element in evaluating for catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs). Evaluating nurses' knowledge regarding appropriate reasons and methods to obtain urine culture specimens are the first steps to improving practice.MethodsNurses at 5 hospitals completed a 40-question survey regarding their knowledge, training, and practices of appropriate reasons for obtaining urine cultures. The survey included different scenarios of patients with urinary catheters and when they would expect to obtain urine cultures. A 12-point scoring system calculated responses regarding urine collection appropriateness.ResultsThere were 394 nurses who responded to the survey. Of them, 76.1% reported receiving education on CAUTI risk reduction within the last 12 months. Although 327 (83%) of all nurses surveyed reported that they never collect urine samples by draining directly from the drainage bag, only 58.4% viewed others to be fully compliant with that standard (P < .001). Nurses who considered their knowledge to be above average to excellent had similar knowledge assessment scores (out of 12 points) for triggers to obtain urine cultures (mean score, 4.9 ± 1.72) compared with those that reported average to poor knowledge (mean score, 4.64 ± 1.78; P = .15).ConclusionsImportant opportunities exist for nurses to optimize the decisions to obtain urine cultures and the process for obtaining them. Addressing nurses' knowledge and practice may lead to more appropriate use of urine cultures.