The client discards voided urine during a 24-hour urine collection. Which should the nurse implement?

Question

1. Instruct the client to call for help to void any urine.
2. Consult with the laboratory for further instructions.
3. Discard all urine and begin another 24-hour collection.
4. State on the laboratory requisition that one specimen is missing.

Answer 1

3
3. The 24-hour specimen is invalid, so the nurse starts a new collection and reinforces instructions to the client.
1. The client does not need to call for help every time urine is voided; however, the nurse reinforces client instructions to save all urine and explains the importance of helping the health care team.
2. Consulting with the laboratory is wasting time because the nurse knows what to do.
4. The nurse cannot send the specimen to the laboratory missing one specimen be-cause the urine sent does not contain all urine from the last 24 hours.