PTCB Patient Safety & Quality
Assurance Exam 2023 Test Questions
With Correct Answers
What are High Alert/Risk Medications? - Answer Are medications that are more likely to cause harm to a patient if used incorrectly or in error.
What is the "Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP)"? - Answer it is the primary resource for identifying high-alert medications, like warfarin
What are Look-Alike/Sound-Alike (LASA) Medications? What method does the pharmacy use to help differentiate between similar medications? - Answer Are similar medications that cause a serious safety concern and a common cause of medication errors. The "Tall man lettering" method is used on many drug products and implemented in many pharmacy systems to help pharmacy personnel differentiate two very similar-looking medication names.
What is the Correct Order to Correct Patients - Answer The five "rights" of medication administration is:
right drug,
right dose,
right time,
right route, and
right patient to prevent a medication error from occurring.
The 3 simple verification steps that will help get the correct order to the correct patient every time and reduce the risk of a dispensing error: - Answer Verify name and date of birth
Verify street address
Briefly mention what you have for the patient to pick up
What is "Tall Man Lettering" used for? - Answer is used to help differentiate portions of sound-alike/look-alike drug names that are different so as to draw one's eye to a potential source of error.
(e.g., hydrALAzine vs. hydrOXYzine).
What does inventory management include? - Answer Inventory management may include ordering and receiving products, identifying specific storage requirements, and removing expired or recalled medications
During data entry or calculations, do you use Trailing Zeros? What about Leading Zeros? If so when do you use it? - Answer During data entry or calculations: you do not use trailing zeros (ex. 5.0); instead, simply write the whole number (5) and add units. A zero should be added before a decimal point (ex. 0.5 mg or 0.75 mL) to minimize the risk of overdose.
Barcodes for drugs are used for what? What is used to verify the barcodes? - Answer Similar to NDC codes, each drug's barcode is unique and can be used to verify that the correct product is chosen. A scanner may be used to scan the individual drug product into the system and to verify the correct drug is chosen in the filling process.
A pharmacist should always be available in the pharmacy in case of questions or concerns.
True or False? - Answer True
Whenever a question or concern arises that is of the clinical aspect, you must notify the pharmacist that he/she is needed for intervention. True or False - Answer True
A pharmacy technician should never handle a clinical problem or provide clinical information, as this is one of the many duties of the pharmacist on duty.
True or False - Answer True
When do pharmacists conduct Drug Utilization Review (DUR)? What does the DUR include? - Answer Pharmacists are to conduct drug utilization reviews (DURs) prior to dispensing a new medication or refilling an existing order. The DUR should include a comprehensive review of the patient's prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications, with a special focus on drug-drug interactions and potential adverse drug events (ADEs).
What is Adverse Drug Event (ADE)? Should it be documented in a patient's chart? - Answer Are unwanted reactions that occur from the normal use or potential misuse of a medication. These events can be due to a medication error or an adverse reaction from practical use. Any adverse event, regardless of its origin, should be documented in a patient's chart to minimize the risk of it occurring again in the future.
Adverse events from a medication are more serious than a side effect and have the potential to cause injury or even be life threatening.
True or False - Answer True
When an Adverse Drug Event happen, who should it be reported to for quality assurance purposes? - Answer such events to be reported to the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) for quality assurance purposes.
An OTC (over-the-counter) medication is one that does not require a prescription.
True or False - Answer True
What does Therapeutic substitution allow? - Answer Therapeutic substitution allows for a medication to be switched to a different medication in the same drug class (though not
the same drug) without first checking with the prescriber.
Assurance Exam 2023 Test Questions
With Correct Answers
What are High Alert/Risk Medications? - Answer Are medications that are more likely to cause harm to a patient if used incorrectly or in error.
What is the "Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP)"? - Answer it is the primary resource for identifying high-alert medications, like warfarin
What are Look-Alike/Sound-Alike (LASA) Medications? What method does the pharmacy use to help differentiate between similar medications? - Answer Are similar medications that cause a serious safety concern and a common cause of medication errors. The "Tall man lettering" method is used on many drug products and implemented in many pharmacy systems to help pharmacy personnel differentiate two very similar-looking medication names.
What is the Correct Order to Correct Patients - Answer The five "rights" of medication administration is:
right drug,
right dose,
right time,
right route, and
right patient to prevent a medication error from occurring.
The 3 simple verification steps that will help get the correct order to the correct patient every time and reduce the risk of a dispensing error: - Answer Verify name and date of birth
Verify street address
Briefly mention what you have for the patient to pick up
What is "Tall Man Lettering" used for? - Answer is used to help differentiate portions of sound-alike/look-alike drug names that are different so as to draw one's eye to a potential source of error.
(e.g., hydrALAzine vs. hydrOXYzine).
What does inventory management include? - Answer Inventory management may include ordering and receiving products, identifying specific storage requirements, and removing expired or recalled medications
During data entry or calculations, do you use Trailing Zeros? What about Leading Zeros? If so when do you use it? - Answer During data entry or calculations: you do not use trailing zeros (ex. 5.0); instead, simply write the whole number (5) and add units. A zero should be added before a decimal point (ex. 0.5 mg or 0.75 mL) to minimize the risk of overdose.
Barcodes for drugs are used for what? What is used to verify the barcodes? - Answer Similar to NDC codes, each drug's barcode is unique and can be used to verify that the correct product is chosen. A scanner may be used to scan the individual drug product into the system and to verify the correct drug is chosen in the filling process.
A pharmacist should always be available in the pharmacy in case of questions or concerns.
True or False? - Answer True
Whenever a question or concern arises that is of the clinical aspect, you must notify the pharmacist that he/she is needed for intervention. True or False - Answer True
A pharmacy technician should never handle a clinical problem or provide clinical information, as this is one of the many duties of the pharmacist on duty.
True or False - Answer True
When do pharmacists conduct Drug Utilization Review (DUR)? What does the DUR include? - Answer Pharmacists are to conduct drug utilization reviews (DURs) prior to dispensing a new medication or refilling an existing order. The DUR should include a comprehensive review of the patient's prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications, with a special focus on drug-drug interactions and potential adverse drug events (ADEs).
What is Adverse Drug Event (ADE)? Should it be documented in a patient's chart? - Answer Are unwanted reactions that occur from the normal use or potential misuse of a medication. These events can be due to a medication error or an adverse reaction from practical use. Any adverse event, regardless of its origin, should be documented in a patient's chart to minimize the risk of it occurring again in the future.
Adverse events from a medication are more serious than a side effect and have the potential to cause injury or even be life threatening.
True or False - Answer True
When an Adverse Drug Event happen, who should it be reported to for quality assurance purposes? - Answer such events to be reported to the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) for quality assurance purposes.
An OTC (over-the-counter) medication is one that does not require a prescription.
True or False - Answer True
What does Therapeutic substitution allow? - Answer Therapeutic substitution allows for a medication to be switched to a different medication in the same drug class (though not
the same drug) without first checking with the prescriber.
