How to collect a clean-catch urine sample
Other platforms explain it with text and video. In Making Synapses you practice it on the patient.
A contaminated sample shows bacteria that are not really there. Teach the patient each step.
Step by step
Explain and give supplies
Sterile cup, wipes. [1]
Wash hands
Before and after. [1]
Clean
Women: separate labia, wipe front to back. Men: retract foreskin, wipe the tip. [1]
Midstream
Start urinating in the toilet, then catch the middle part in the cup. [1]
Do not touch inside
The cup or the lid. [1]
Label and send
Label at once; send within the time limit or refrigerate. [1]
Common errors
- First stream in the cup.
- Touching inside the cup.
- Delay in sending.
Practice it in Making Synapses
In Making Synapses you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.
Making Synapses cases that train this skill
- Catheter-associated urinary tract infection
- Pressure injury in a wheelchair user
- Urinary tract infection with delirium
- Heart failure, worsening
- Junctional rhythm
- Primary hypertension
18 Making Synapses cases train this skill: open the case library
Sources
- Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College) (CC BY 4.0)
- OpenStax, Clinical Nursing Skills (reference)
Steps adapted from Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Facts and steps also follow OpenStax, Clinical Nursing Skills (reference). Making Synapses is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.