Routine urinalysis on admission: time to review the hospital policy

Abstract

Abstract Routine urinalysis is common practice on hospital admission, to screen for the presence of occult disease. It is frequently performed by nurses and the results recorded in the patient's notes. A questionnaire to hospital doctors identified that few knew exactly which tests were performed or where the results were recorded. Only 70 per cent of patients actually had urinalysis performed at the time of admission and, for these, abnormal findings rarely altered patient management. Quality assurance was unsatisfactory in that few nurses adhered to the manufacturer's instructions with respect to timing and the results obtained were qualitatively different from those which were obtained in the laboratory. This study highlights the importance of audit in order to assess the contribution of different groups of hospital staff to effective urinalysis on admission. These groups include the nursing staff who perform the test, doctors who make decisions on the basis of results obtained, clinical chemistry laboratories which provide quality assurance, and pharmacy departments which purchase and supply urine testing sticks.