| Course | PA 524 Comprehensive Clinical Module Nephrology & Genitourinary |
|---|---|
| Week | 3 |
| Paper type | Urinalysis interpretation |
| Length | About 740 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PA 524 Week 3
Urinalysis Interpretation From an In-and-Out Catheter Sample: A Specific Gravity of 1.010, Blood 1+ With 3 to 5 Red Cells, Trace Esterase With 5 to 10 White Cells and No Casts
Student Name
Chamberlain University
PA 524: Comprehensive Clinical Module Nephrology & Genitourinary
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Urinalysis Interpretation From an In-and-Out Catheter Sample: A Specific Gravity of 1.010, Blood 1+ With 3 to 5 Red Cells, Trace Esterase With 5 to 10 White Cells and No Casts
How the Sample Was Obtained
G.H. came to the clinic with a week of dribbling, a weak stream and the feeling of not emptying. A clean voided sample could not be produced, so a nurse collected urine by straight catheter after cleaning. That matters for interpretation: a catheter sample avoids skin and genital contamination, so the absence of squamous cells is expected and any bacteria seen are more likely to come from the bladder.
The Strip, Including Its Negatives
Table 1
Dipstick Results as Reported
| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Specific gravity | 1.010 |
| pH | 6.0 |
| Protein | Trace |
| Glucose | Negative |
| Ketones | Negative |
| Blood | 1+ |
| Bilirubin | Negative |
| Urobilinogen | Normal |
| Nitrite | Negative |
| Leukocyte esterase | Trace |
Note. Note. Strip read by the analyzer at 2 minutes; negative results listed because each excludes something.
The Slide in Its Own Vocabulary
Red cells: 3 to 5 per high-power field, normal shape.
White cells: 5 to 10 per high-power field, no clumps.
Squamous epithelial cells: none seen.
Renal tubular cells: none seen.
Casts: none seen, including no red cell or white cell casts.
Crystals: none.
Bacteria: few rods.
Yeast: none.
Where the Two Readings Disagree
Blood 1+ on the strip with only 3 to 5 red cells on the slide is a mild disagreement. The strip reacts to hemoglobin and myoglobin as well as intact cells; the small number of normal-shaped red cells, together with the catheter passage, accounts for it, and there is nothing to suggest muscle breakdown. Trace leukocyte esterase with 5 to 10 white cells is in agreement: both show mild inflammation. Few bacteria with a negative nitrite does not exclude infection, since some organisms do not convert nitrate and urine that sits only briefly in the bladder may not test positive, but no fever or flank pain is present. A culture has been sent before any antibiotic.
What the Specific Gravity Says
A specific gravity of 1.010 is close to that of plasma. In someone whose kidneys are concentrating normally, a morning urine is usually more concentrated. A fixed, unconcentrated urine can appear when the tubules are stretched by back pressure from an obstructed bladder, which fits G.H.'s symptoms. On its own, it proves nothing.
Back to the Blood
The same visit gave a serum creatinine of 2.1 mg/dL, up from a stable 1.4 over the past year. The urinalysis does not suggest disease of the glomeruli: there is no heavy protein and no red cell casts. It does not suggest acute tubular injury: there are no muddy brown casts or tubular cells. That leaves a cause before or after the kidneys, and a urine that cannot be concentrated, from a patient who cannot empty the bladder, points after them. A bladder scan was done before G.H. left; the result is the subject of a later brief.
Sources Used for the Reading
The interpretation of creatinine changes follows the KDIGO definitions as summarized by Kellum and Lameire (2013), which classify a rise of 50 percent within seven days as acute kidney injury. The urine findings were read against the KDIGO chronic kidney disease guideline's description of urinalysis as part of the assessment of kidney damage (Stevens et al., 2024).
What the Urinalysis Leaves Open
The sample cannot say whether the few bacteria represent infection or colonization of urine that has been sitting in an incompletely emptied bladder; the culture will help, but a low colony count from a catheter sample in a man with retention is common and does not by itself require treatment. It cannot rule out a small bladder tumor as the source of the red cells, a question to return to once the retention has been treated and the urine is rechecked, since visible or persistent microscopic blood in a man of 74 is worth a urology opinion. And it cannot measure protein accurately: a trace on the strip in dilute urine may hide more, so a urine albumin to creatinine ratio was added.
References
Kellum, J. A., & Lameire, N. (2013). Diagnosis, evaluation, and management of acute kidney injury: A KDIGO summary (Part 1). Critical Care, 17(1), Article 204. https://doi.org/10.1186/cc11454
Stevens, P. E., Ahmed, S. B., Carrero, J. J., Foster, B., Francis, A., Hall, R. K., Herrington, W. G., Hill, G., Inker, L. A., Kazancıoğlu, R., Lamb, E., Lin, P., Madero, M., McIntyre, N., Morrow, K., Roberts, G., Sabanayagam, D., Schaeffner, E., Shlipak, M., . . . Levin, A. (2024). KDIGO 2024 clinical practice guideline for the evaluation and management of chronic kidney disease. Kidney International, 105(4, Suppl.), S117-S314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kint.2023.10.018
Reading the PA 524 Week 3 instructions
Week three turns to the urinalysis. Start by stating how the sample was collected, because a voided, clean-catch or catheter sample changes how contamination and bacteria are read. Present the dipstick results in their own block, including negatives, each as reported rather than as a conclusion. Present the microscopic findings in a second block, naming what was seen with counts per field where your section asks: red and white cells, epithelial cells, casts, crystals, bacteria and yeast. Under both, explain where the strip and the slide agree or disagree and why. Comment on concentration. Then return to the blood results and say what the urine adds to the clinical question. Finish with what the sample cannot settle and the test that would. Cite the framework you use.
How the PA 524 Week 3 example is put together
The paper opens with G.H.'s week of dribbling and a weak stream and the straight-catheter collection, explaining why no squamous cells is expected. Table 1 lists ten dipstick results, negatives included. The microscopy block names red cells, white cells, absent tubular cells, absent casts, absent crystals and few rods. A reconciliation section explains blood 1+ against 3 to 5 cells, agreement between trace esterase and the white cell count and few bacteria with a negative nitrite, with a culture sent first. The specific gravity of 1.010 is linked cautiously to back pressure. The blood section returns to a creatinine of 2.1, excludes glomerular and tubular patterns and points after the kidney. A sources section cites the KDIGO summary and guideline, and a closing section addresses colonization, possible bladder tumor and an albumin ratio.
PA 524 Week 3 rubric: what full points look like
Marks on this interpretation start with structure: mixing strip and slide findings into a single narrative, or reporting conclusions instead of findings, loses the most. Faculty next check that negatives appear, since each excludes something. The collection method must be stated; reading bacteria or epithelial cells without it costs points. Credit goes to explaining each disagreement between strip and slide rather than reporting them in parallel. The link back to the blood results is weighted heavily, because the week tests whether the urine changes the clinical question. Overcalling infection from a few bacteria and trace esterase is a common deduction. A closing section on what the sample cannot settle earns marks, and the framework used should be cited in APA style.
PA 524 Week 3 help from the desk
Many students lose points on urinalysis write-ups by listing positives and drawing conclusions without explaining the disagreements. Share your strip and microscopy results and how the sample was collected, and the interpretation prepared for you would place each in its own block, negatives included, then reconcile the two readings line by line. Concentration and its meaning in your case are addressed. The final section returns to your blood results and states what the urine adds. If your sample was voided rather than catheterized, contamination is weighed accordingly. Questions the sample cannot answer are listed with the test that would. Every value in your submission should come from your own report, not from this sample.
Get a PA-524 Week 3 example written to your instructions
Send the values your assignment supplies and a custom example is written to them and returned inside 24 to 48 hours, the first one free. A result printed at a site where you rotate stays out of it; name the findings you want the case to carry and a coherent set is constructed for it.
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- PA 522 Week 3: Paired Hormone Interpretation
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PA 524 Week 3 questions, answered
Our assignment gives a strip result but no microscopy. What then?
The example says so in the text and keeps its conclusions inside what a chemical reading alone can support, which is less than the strip is usually credited with. It then names the microscopic findings that would confirm or overturn each possibility, so the page still carries the reasoning the week marks. If your section supplies the sediment later in the term, the same structure holds with the second block filled in.
Does the interpretation name a diagnosis?
Usually it names two or three possibilities and ranks them, which is different from settling on one. The finished page commits where the findings allow it and says plainly where they do not, and that second sentence is often worth more than the first. Treatment decisions fall outside what these examples cover, and your course supplies them.
How many casts or cells should the example report?
Whatever the case calls for, reported in the per-field form microscopy uses, and consistent from block to block so a reader can follow one finding through the page. Where your assignment supplies figures they are used exactly as given. Where it does not, a set is invented that behaves sensibly: an element that belongs with its neighbors rather than one dropped in to make a point.
Where can I find a free PA 524 Week 3 sample paper?
This page carries the full PA 524 Week 3 urinalysis interpretation of a catheter sample, with strip and slide in separate blocks and every disagreement explained.
Why does the PA 524 Week 3 sample not treat the bacteria as an infection?
A few bacteria with a negative nitrite and no fever, in urine sitting in an incompletely emptied bladder, may be colonization, so a culture is sent before any antibiotic.