What is the required step before collecting a midstream urine specimen?

Before collecting a midstream urine specimen, it is essential to clean the perineal area. This step is crucial as it helps to minimize the risk of contamination from bacteria or other substances that may be present on the skin. Proper cleaning ensures that the urine collected is as sterile as possible, providing a more accurate sample for testing. Without this step, contaminants could affect the test results, leading to potentially misleading diagnoses.

While having the patient drink adequate water is helpful for ensuring a sufficient volume of urine, it is not specifically necessary for the collection itself. Similarly, having a full bladder may improve the volume and quality of the specimen, but it does not address the aseptic technique needed to collect a midstream specimen. Therefore, the cleaning of the perineal area stands out as the required and pivotal step that directly impacts the integrity of the specimen collected.