First, clean the perineal area and urinary meatus with soap and water and let dry. Next, clean the perineal area and urinary meatus with an antiseptic wipe and let dry. Assist or direct the client to the toilet, onto a bedpan, or bedside commode and instruct the client to begin urinating. Then, instruct the client to place the cup under the stream of urine (during the middle of urinating/midstream) to collect the urine sample. You do not want the first amount of urine because that can still contain microorganisms from the urethra that will get flushed out in the first amounts of urine, which is why you want to wait to collect urine midstream.
