Hospital clinical practice around urinalysis is an important opportunity for antimicrobial stewardship improvement...

To identify nurses' knowledge, perception and practice around urinalysis and asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) and to determine drivers of inappropriate urinalysis practice in an Australian hospital setting.

Undertaken in eight geriatric wards over four hospitals, a questionnaire inviting voluntary, anonymous participation tested nursing staff knowledge on urinalysis, recognition of urinary tract infection (UTI) and perception of the utility of urinalysis as a routine test on all ward admissions. A retrospective one-month audit was performed on admissions to a 32-bed geriatric ward.

132 of 220 (60%) distributed surveys were completed. Performing urinalysis on all new admissions was identified as routine practice by 89%, and with indwelling catheter change by 35% of respondents. Over-three-quarters believed that routine urinalysis on admission was useful practice and up to one-third believed urinalysis abnormalities warranted antibiotic prescribing. Dark urine (57.6%), foamy urine (55.3%) and vaginal itch (34.5%) were identified as features suggestive of a UTI. In the ward audit, routine urinalysis on admission accounted for most urinalysis testing (59%, 24/41). Of occasions with clinical prompt, delirium accounted for 60% of urinalysis and urinary symptoms 33% however urine culture was undertaken on 53% of occasions.

There was an overall lack of nursing knowledge regarding ASB, with a high perception that urinalysis abnormalities would be suspicious of a UTI irrespective of clinical findings and that routine urinalysis on ward admission was useful practice. In hospital settings, nursing stewardship can deliver strategies to increase knowledge, motivation and opportunity to improve appropriateness of UTI treatment and recognition of ASB.