24-Hour Urine Specimen Collection Guidelines

If a doctor or health care provider orders a 24-hour urine (pee) test for your child, that means you must save all their pee for 24 hours.

You Will Need

• A clean urine collection container. Females will use a toilet hat to catch or collect the urine. Males can use a plastic, portable (easy-to-carry) urinal or the large urine storage container, OR
• A large urine storage container.

How to Label the Specimen

Do steps 1 and 2 before starting the collection.

1. Child’s full legal name – complete first and last names, correctly spelled
2. One of the following unique identifiers:
   • Date of birth OR
   • Patient’s ID OR
   • Nationwide Children’s Hospital medical record number
3. Date the test is started and date the test is finished (MM/DD/YYYY)
4. Time the test is started and time the test is finished (include a.m. or p.m.)

Nationwide Children’s clinics may give you an EPIC registration label to put on the large container.

How to Collect the Specimen

1. Decide on a day to do the test when your child will be at home all day.
2. On the day of the test, have your child empty their bladder (urinate or pee) in the toilet right after waking up. Flush the urine down the toilet.
3. The test begins now with the bladder empty. Write this date and the start time on the storage container’s label.
4. For the next 24 hours, your child will need to pee into a collection container every time they go to the bathroom. Females can use a toilet hat. Males can use a plastic urinal or pee right into the large storage container. If you do not have a toilet hat or urinal at home, you may use some other clean plastic container.
5. Before using the plastic container for the first time, wash it with dish soap and then rinse at least 10 times with tap water. Allow it to air dry completely.
6. Do not let feces (poop) mix with the urine or else the test will need to be restarted.
7. Pour the urine into the large storage container and close the lid tightly. Be very careful not to spill any urine.
8. If using a collection container, rinse it with water only. Put it back by the toilet to remind you to use it the next time. Allow it to air dry completely.
9. Put the large storage container in the refrigerator. The urine must be kept cool at all times. If you do not have space in the refrigerator, you can store it in a cooler on top of ice. Add more ice as needed to keep the urine cold.
10. Each time your child pees during the day and night, follow Steps 4 through 9.
11. The next day (close to the same time that you started on the first day), have your child pee into the collection container one last time. Add it to the large storage container. This ends the 24-hour collection.
12. Write the date and time of this last urine collection on the label.
13. Attach a list of all medicines, including over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal remedies, your child took during the 24-hour urine collection.

Other Information

• Take the urine to a Laboratory (lab) Service Center as soon as possible, within 24 hours after ending the collection. Keep the urine cool.
• Make sure the urine does not freeze for these tests: amylase, arylsulfatase, immunoelectrophoresis, microalbumin, pregnanetriol, protein, or uric acid.
• You will need to start the test over if any of the urine spilled, you forgot to save some, or it has poop in it. If you must restart the test, it is okay to use the same collection and storage containers. Pour out the urine, clean the containers well, and allow them to air dry. Then follow steps 1 through 13.

Drop-Off Options

For business hours and locations, please visit Laboratory Services online or call (800) 934-6575.

During the day, drop the specimen off at:

• Any Laboratory Service Center or Nationwide Children’s Close To Home™ Center.
• Nationwide Children’s Orange Laboratory is located at 555 S. 18th Street, Columbus, Ohio 43205.
  In the evening:
• Nationwide Children’s Hospital Admitting Department on the main campus.

DO NOT drop off urine specimens at the Emergency Department.

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