NHA Certified Phlebotomy Technician (CPT)Collection RoutineMedium
A phlebotomy technician is instructing a patient on collecting a 24-hour urine specimen. Which of the following instructions should the technician provide regarding the start of the collection?
- ADiscard the first urine voided in the morning, then collect all subsequent urine.
- BCollect the first urine voided in the morning.
- CStart collection after the last void of the previous evening.
- DCollect urine only during waking hours for 24 hours.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Discard the first urine voided in the morning, then collect all subsequent urine.
For a 24-hour urine collection, the first morning void is discarded to ensure that the collection period accurately reflects the urine produced over a full 24-hour cycle starting from an 'empty' bladder. All subsequent voids for the next 24 hours are collected.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Collecting the first morning void would include urine accumulated overnight, skewing the start time of the 24-hour period.
- C. Starting collection after the last void of the previous evening would require the patient to hold urine overnight, which is impractical and could affect results.
- D. Collecting only during waking hours would omit a significant portion of urine output, leading to an incomplete and inaccurate specimen.
24-Hour Urine Collection Start
The precise method for initiating a 24-hour urine collection, ensuring accuracy by discarding the initial morning void and then collecting all subsequent urine.
- Crucial for accurate quantitative analysis of analytes.
- Patient voids and discards the first morning specimen.
- Notes the exact time of this discarded void as the start time.
- Collects all urine for the next 24 hours, ending with the first void of the next morning.
Memory trick: First pee, then discard; next 24 hours, collect it all!