What it means
A urine sample is placed on a growth medium to see what grows. The lab counts the colonies and names the organism; a sensitivity test, often ordered together (culture and sensitivity, C&S), shows which antibiotics will work against it. Results usually take 1 to 3 days.
For the nurse
Collect the sample before the first antibiotic dose. For a clean catch, teach the client to clean the area, start passing urine into the toilet, then catch the middle of the stream in the sterile cup. From a catheter, take it from the sampling port, never the drainage bag. Send it to the lab promptly or refrigerate it.
At a glance
| Normal range | No growth. In a clean-catch sample, more than 100,000 colony-forming units (CFU)/mL [more than 10⁸ CFU/L] of one organism usually means infection. |
|---|---|
| Also written | urine culture and sensitivity, urine cultures |
Related terms
urinary tract infection
An infection anywhere in the urinary tract: the kidneys, ureters, bladder or urethra.
culture and sensitivity
A lab test that grows the germs from a sample to identify them and see which antibiotics work against them.