Urinary Tract Infections (UTI): Examining Urine Samples (Nursing)

00:00 At the beginning of this video, I promised I would explain how we use a urine dipstick to identify a UTI.

00:08 So that's what we're going to roll into next.

00:11 When you take the dipstick test and you dip it in the urine, we're watching for color changes on those small boxes.

00:18 Now these three substance should never be present in your urine.

00:23 So if one of these three substance is positive on the urine dipstick test, you see the color change at the appropriate time.

00:31 That means you need to follow up.

00:33 So if you have all three, we have a really big deal.

00:36 But even if you have just one of these three, it's going to require you to follow up and figure out what's going on with your patient.

00:45 So you see you've got the title up there.

00:46 What should I be looking for? First group, leukocytes. Those are white blood cells.

00:54 Nitrites is our second group.

00:56 And the third one is the presence of blood.

00:59 Okay. Leukocytes, nitrites, and blood.

01:03 These are the three most important things I want you to be looking for.

01:07 If we're examining a patient's urine for the presence of a urinary tract infection.

01:13 Leukocytes, nitrites, and blood.

01:16 You may be saying, "I got it." Hey, I always want to use repetition.

01:21 To help those things stick in your brain.

01:24 We want you to study as you go.

01:25 So that's why leukocytes, nitrites, and blood.

01:30 Now let's try a question.

01:31 This is a strategy I always recommend when you're studying.

01:34 Stop, pause, and think back about what we've discussed.

01:38 So see if you can answer this question.

01:40 I'm pretty sure you can.

01:43 How will I know if leukocytes, nitrites, or blood are present in the urine sample? Right, the squares on the urine test strip or the dipstick will change colors to indicate these are present.

01:58 Good job. All right.

02:00 Use that as a strategy while you're studying, always pause, reflect, and think back.

02:05 And we've done that for you.

02:07 The whole Lecturio team works together to help you with spaced repetition.

02:12 So make sure you're taking advantage of those questions that's been provided.

02:17 Here's another question for you.

02:19 Who is more likely to have a UTI? Now looking at the graphic, you can see we have a male urinary tract and a female urinary tract.

02:28 Look at how those are made up.

02:30 Which one is longer, which one is shorter? You probably already know that E. coli from your gut is one of the most common causes of a urinary tract infection.

02:41 So whose plumbing seems to be more at risk? Right. It's the female.

02:47 In fact, UTI or Urinary Tract Infections are 50 times more common in women.

02:54 Okay, they can range from cystitis, which is inflammation, right.

02:59 A mild kind of disturbing inflammation, it's limited to the bladder, or it can range all the way to severe infections of the kidneys.

03:07 So women are 50 times more likely to experience a UTI.

03:13 You'll remember why when you look at the length of the urethras, right, much much shorter.

03:18 So keep in mind, you're likely to see female patients more often with UTI.

03:24 And we talked about three important dipstick tests for UTI.

03:28 Let's take a look at leukocytes or white cells.

03:31 Leukocytes in your urine are a sign of an inflammatory condition in the kidneys or the urinary tract.

03:36 Remember, these guys are the first responders.

03:38 when you have infection they race right in to try and address that infection.

03:44 Now, if you have a bacterial UTI, you usually have leukocytes in the urine.

03:49 Keep in mind bacterial infection is just one type of UTI.

03:53 You can have fungal and yeast and all kinds of nasty stuff.

03:56 But if it's a bacterial infection, you'll usually have leukocytes in the urine.

04:01 Next up, Nitrites.

04:04 Now, I'm slowing down and enunciating that very clearly, because that second eye makes a difference.

04:12 So you shouldn't have any nitrites in the urine.

04:15 If you do, we've got a problem.

04:18 Nitrites in the urine are the result of the conversion of nitrates into nitrite.

04:24 And who does it? Bacteria.

04:27 So bacteria in the urinary tract, take nitrate and convert it to nitrite that will change on your urine dipstick and that means we likely have a bacterial infection.

04:39 The third member of the trio we're looking for is blood but it's not quite as clear cut.

04:44 We do know that blood in the urine can be a sign of a severe urinary tract infection.

04:50 However, there's other reasons that you might see blood in the urine.

04:55 For example, if it's a female client, it could be because of menstruation.

04:59 So you want to be sure to ask questions do a clear assessment of your patient because you want to rule out the possibility of menstruation.

05:06 But if you do see blood in a patient's urine, further investigation is usually required at any time a sample comes back positive for blood.