While collecting a 24-hour urine specimen from a patient, which of the following steps is crucial to ensure the accuracy of the test?
Instruct the patient to discard the first morning urine and then collect all urine voided for the next 24 hours, including the first void on the following morning.
Ask the patient to collect urine at specific intervals throughout the day for 24 hours, excluding the first void in the morning.
Instruct the patient to start collecting urine in the morning, including the first morning void, and continue for exactly 24 hours.
Collect a single urine sample from the patient at the end of the 24-hour period and use it for the test.