The nurse has a prescription to collect a 24-hour urine specimen from a client. The nurse should ...

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Rationale: Because the 24-hour urine test is a timed quantitative determination, the test must be started with an empty bladder. Therefore, the first urine is discarded. Fifteen minutes prior to the end of the collection time, the client should be asked to void, and this specimen is added to the collection. The urine sample should be placed in the appropriate container and may be refrigerated or placed on ice to prevent changes in the urine. Because this is a quantitative determination of constituents in the urine, no urine should be removed from the container.