AORN AORN Medication Safety 2

Question 1

What is the perioperative nurse's responsibility regarding medication allergies before a case?

Accepted Answer

Verify and document the patient's allergy history and communicate known allergies to the entire team during the time-out

Answer

The perioperative nurse must verify, document, and communicate all known allergies during the pre-procedure verification and time-out so every team member is aware.

Question 2

How are medications stored in the OR to maintain safety and integrity?

Accepted Answer

Medications are stored in a secure, temperature-controlled area separate from other supplies, with controlled substances locked

Answer

AORN standards require secure, temperature-appropriate storage for all medications and locked storage for controlled substances to prevent diversion and degradation.

Question 3

What action should the perioperative nurse take upon discovering a medication labeling error on the sterile field?

Accepted Answer

Remove the mislabeled medication from the field immediately, discard it, and replace it with a correctly labeled item

Answer

A mislabeled medication is a safety hazard and must be removed and discarded immediately; it should never be relabeled and reused because the contents cannot be verified.

Question 4

What is a 'medication reconciliation' in the perioperative context?

Accepted Answer

Comparing a patient's current medication list with planned perioperative medications to identify interactions or omissions

Answer

Perioperative medication reconciliation involves cross-checking the patient's ongoing medications against perioperative drugs to prevent harmful interactions, duplications, or missed doses.

Question 5

Which practice helps prevent wrong-route medication errors in the perioperative setting?

Accepted Answer

Using tubing and connections that are route-specific and cannot be misconnected (e.g., enteral vs. IV connectors)

Answer

Route-specific connectors (ISO 80369 standards) physically prevent misconnection between enteral, IV, and epidural lines, eliminating a common class of wrong-route errors.

(AORN) Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses Practice Test

(AORN) Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses Practice Test

AORN AORN Medication Safety 2