Gateway Community College, Phoenix (Nursing)
Urinary Pattern – HESI Case Study
Meet the Client: Hunter Ellis
Hunter Ellis, a 76-year-old African American male, is a resident in a long-term care facility. He
has been unable to control the urge to void since experiencing a stroke 1 month ago. He is alert
and oriented and has no verbal deficits since his stroke.
Physiologic Integrity
1. Mr. Ellis states that prior to his stroke, he would get up five or six times during the night
to empty his bladder but that he was able to control the urge long enough to make it to the
bathroom. How should the nurse describe the urinary pattern that Mr. Ellis is describing?
A. Dysuria
B. Frequency
C. Nocturia
D. Diureses
CORRECT ANSWER C)
Rationale: This refers to frequently voiding at night. The incidence of nocturia
increases greatly in the older male client who has an enlarged prostate, or who may
possibly indicate an inability to concentrate urine because of poor blood flow to the
kidneys.
2. Since Mr. Ellis now voids spontaneously without recognizing the need to void, how should
the nurse document his current urinary pattern in the medical chart?
A. Polyuria
Urinary Pattern – HESI Case Study
Meet the Client: Hunter Ellis
Hunter Ellis, a 76-year-old African American male, is a resident in a long-term care facility. He
has been unable to control the urge to void since experiencing a stroke 1 month ago. He is alert
and oriented and has no verbal deficits since his stroke.
Physiologic Integrity
1. Mr. Ellis states that prior to his stroke, he would get up five or six times during the night
to empty his bladder but that he was able to control the urge long enough to make it to the
bathroom. How should the nurse describe the urinary pattern that Mr. Ellis is describing?
A. Dysuria
B. Frequency
C. Nocturia
D. Diureses
CORRECT ANSWER C)
Rationale: This refers to frequently voiding at night. The incidence of nocturia
increases greatly in the older male client who has an enlarged prostate, or who may
possibly indicate an inability to concentrate urine because of poor blood flow to the
kidneys.
2. Since Mr. Ellis now voids spontaneously without recognizing the need to void, how should
the nurse document his current urinary pattern in the medical chart?
A. Polyuria
