Name_______________________________ Date____________
Time__________
PROCEDURE 3-12: Preparing Urine Sediment
Equipment/Supplies: Patient’s labeled urine specimen, urine centrifuge tubes, transfer
pipette, centrifuge (1500–2000 rpm), personal protective equipment, hand disinfectant,
surface disinfectant
Standards: Given the needed equipment and a place to work, the student will perform
this skill with _____ % accuracy in a total of _____ minutes. (Your instructor will tell
you what the percentage and time limits will be before you begin.)
Notes: If the urine is to be tested by chemical reagent strip, perform the dip test before
spinning the urine. Preparing a urine specimen of less than 3 mL for sediment is not
recommended because that is not enough urine to create a true sediment. However, some
patients cannot provide a large amount of urine.
In such cases, document the volume on the chart under sediment to ensure proper
interpretation of results. Centrifuge maintenance requires periodic checks to ensure that
the speed and timing are correct.
Document this information on the maintenance log.
Key: 4 = Satisfactory
0 = Unsatisfactory
NA = This step is not counted
PROCEDURE STEPS
1. Washed your hands
2. Assembled the equipment
3. Put on personal protective equipment
4. Verified that the names on the specimen
container and the report form were the
same
5. Swirled the specimen to mix it; poured
10 mL of well-mixed urine into a labeled
centrifuge tube or standard system tube and
capped the tube with a plastic cap or
parafilm
6. Centrifuged the sample at 1500 rpm for
5 minutes
7. When the centrifuge stopped, removed
the tubes; made sure that no tests were to
be performed first on the supernatant;
removed the caps and poured off the
supernatant, leaving 0.5 to 1.0 mL of it;
suspended the sediment again by aspirating
up and down with a transfer pipette or
followed the manufacturer’s directions for
a standardized system
8. Properly cared for and disposed of
equipment and supplies; cleaned the work
SELF
PARTNER
INSTRUCTOR
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Copyright © 2013 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
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area with surface disinfectant; removed
personal protective equipment; washed
your hands
Calculation
Total Possible Points: _____
Total Points Earned: _____ Multiplied by 100 = _____
Divided by Total Possible Points = _____%
Pass
Fail


Comments:
Student’s signature ___________________________________
Date __________
Partner’s signature ___________________________________
Date __________
Instructor’s signature ___________________________________ Date __________
Copyright © 2013 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
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