Tips to Help Children through Their Medical Tests
Urine Specimens
Children sometimes balk at the idea of collecting their urine in a cup, particularly if the idea is new to them. The assistance that may be required can seem like an invasion of privacy, and intervention with this excretion function can seem inappropriate. A child’s resistance can prolong the collection process, making it more stressful for the child and the parent, so you will want to prepare the child and comfortably guide him or her through the process. The procedure itself is not painful unless there is an infection or rash.
Here are some suggestions to minimize the stress of the moment.
Anticipate — Inquire at the time you make the appointment if a urine sample will be required (for example, if you suspect a urinary tract infection). You may also want to know if it must be a sterile specimen so you can prepare the child to wipe first.
Rehearse — Letting the child rehearse may be helpful. If you know before your sirgery visit that a urine sample will be needed (for example if there is a suspected urinary tract infection), spend some time the day before or that morning preparing your child. Ask the child if he or she can do this trick: let a bit of urine out into the toilet, then stop the flow and start again. Tell the child he or she will be asked to do this at the doctor's surgery.
Raise Their Comfort Level — Explain that even grown-ups collect a sample of urine this way when their doctors need them to or that even mothers need to use the towelettes when a sterile specimen is required. Assure them this is a normal procedure that is not difficult.
Drink Up — Encouraging the child to drink before the surgery visit can help the child need to urinate when it is time to collect the sample.
Simplify — Ask what supplies are on hand to make the collection as easy as possible. For a younger girl, putting 3 to 4 urine specimen cups in a potty seat may allow you to collect the sample more easily than catching the flow midstream in a cup. A receptacle placed in the toilet, such as a bedpan, can be simpler and more familiar for a child than catching urine in a cup.
Cope with Pain — If urination is painful due to infection or a rash, there are several strategies you can use. One is to suggest the child 'blow the feeling away' by blowing out a breath just as the urine starts to flow. Introducing this idea in advance gives the child time to rehearse technique. You can also suggest focusing on another body part, for example, feeling mother’s hand on your forehead or a cool cloth on your leg. Dripping cool water over the irritated area just as urination begins can be soothing (but cannot be used if a sterile specimen is required).
Turn on the Tap — The sound of running water can help the child begin to urinate.
Be Cool — For an adolescent who may be embarrassed to carry a urine specimen through the hallway, you can ask for a bag or other suitable camouflage.
Make It Interesting — When the test is for protein in the urine, tell the child the nurse will have to dip a special paper strip into the urine for a colour test.
