Abstract

The purpose of this study was to find out if there was a need to cleanse the genitalia in women before obtaining a clean-voided urine specimen.

The experimental method was chosen as the method of study. Two clean-voided urine specimens were obtained from twenty-six nursing students in a selected school of nursing. One clean-voided urine specimen was obtained from each subject where the genitalia had not been cleansed and compared with a second clean-voided urine specimen obtained the following day from the same subject where the genitalia had been cleansed.

It was found that there was a mean of 54,438 organisms per millilitre of urine for the group of samples where the subjects had not cleansed the genitalia. From the group of samples where the subjects had cleansed their genitalia, there was found to be a mean of 33,000 organisms per millilitre of urine. In order to show the significant difference in the two groups of samples, the median test using the chisquare test of significance was done. The results of the test were found to be 3.769 which is slightly below 3.841, the .05 level which was selected to denote significance. Since the results were only slightly below the .05 level, it was decided that the null hypothesis could be accepted on a 95 percent probability that by chance the results would show as great a difference if the experiment was repeated. However, because the results were slightly below the .05 level, they were not considered conclusive evidence to support the hypothesis of the experiment.

One subject was found to have a urinary tract infection having a count of over 500,000 organisms per millilitre of urine in both samples. A second subject was found to have 450,000 organisms per millilitre of urine in the uncleaned clean-voided urine specimen but only 10,900 organisms per millilitre of urine in the clean-voided urine specimen where the genitalia had been cleansed. Because the uncleaned specimen was obtained first, the results from the second subject were attributed to either inexperience or a lack of understanding on the part of the subject as to the collection procedure.

Of the twenty-six clean-voided specimens, there were seventeen specimens, in which the genitalia had not been cleansed that had a higher organism count per millilitre of urine than the specimen in which the genitalia had been cleansed. However, there were eight specimens in which the genitalia had been cleansed where the organism count per millilitre of urine was greater. The organism count of one subject was the same in both specimens.

Within the limitations of this study, it was concluded that a clean-voided urine specimen taken from a woman where the genitalia had not been cleansed can be considered as reliable as the clean-voided urine specimen taken where the genitalia had been cleansed when such a specimen is secured under similar circumstances as those used in the study.

LLU Discipline

Nursing

Department

Nursing

School

Graduate School

First Advisor

R. Maureen Maxwell

Second Advisor

Matilda Anabelle Mills

Third Advisor

Charles Ernest Winter

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Degree Level

M.S.

Year Degree Awarded

1966

Date (Title Page)

6-1966

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Specimen Handling

Type

Thesis

Page Count

vii; 64

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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