A student nurse on a medical-surgical floor is caring for a 62-year-old previously healthy female. The patient has been admitted for an infectious disease work-up. She has been experiencing generalized pain and nausea for the past three weeks, and recently developed a fever. The student nurse prepares to assist the RN in collecting blood for the following lab tests: complete blood count (CBC), C-reactive protein (CRP), eosinophil sedimentation rate (ESR), blood culture, urine culture, and a lumbar puncture with cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) culture and cell count. The nurse is also collecting a sputum culture, as well as a respiratory PCR by nasopharyngeal suction.
-The patient's urine culture was collected using a clean-catch method.After inoculation and incubation,several organisms were identified in amounts that were reported as normal microbial flora.Which of the following statements by the student nurse indicates proper understanding of the findings?

Question

A student nurse on a medical-surgical floor is caring for a 62-year-old previously healthy female. The patient has been admitted for an infectious disease work-up. She has been experiencing generalized pain and nausea for the past three weeks, and recently developed a fever. The student nurse prepares to assist the RN in collecting blood for the following lab tests: complete blood count (CBC), C-reactive protein (CRP), eosinophil sedimentation rate (ESR), blood culture, urine culture, and a lumbar puncture with cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) culture and cell count. The nurse is also collecting a sputum culture, as well as a respiratory PCR by nasopharyngeal suction. 
-The patient's urine culture was collected using a clean-catch method.After inoculation and incubation,several organisms were identified in amounts that were reported as normal microbial flora.Which of the following statements by the student nurse indicates proper understanding of the findings?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A clean-catch urine sample can still contain normal microbial flora from the urogenital area, which should not be considered as a sign of infection. Therefore, the presence of several organisms in amounts reported as normal microbial flora is not indicative of an infection and does not require immediate antimicrobial treatment. It is not necessarily an indication that the specimen was contaminated, and further testing to isolate the offending microbe is not necessary in this case.

A Student Nurse on a Medical-Surgical Floor Is Caring for a 62-Year-Old