Clinical Procedures and Protocols Flashcards
7 cards from real APC practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Clinical Procedures and Protocols flashcards as text
In paediatric pharmacology, the most accurate method for calculating drug doses in children is based on which parameter?
Answer: Body surface area (BSA)
Body surface area is the most physiologically accurate basis for paediatric dosing of drugs with narrow therapeutic indices, such as chemotherapy agents.
Which step in the medication administration process is the purpose of the 'five rights' protocol?
Answer: Minimising errors at the point of medication administration
The five rights (right patient, drug, dose, route, time) are a bedside safety check applied at the point of medication administration.
When a pharmacist conducts a Home Medicines Review (HMR), which regulatory requirement must be met before the review can be billed under Medicare?
Answer: A referral from the patient's GP is required
HMRs under the MBS require a referral from the patient's GP, and the review must be conducted by an accredited pharmacist.
A patient with a penicillin allergy documented as anaphylaxis requires treatment for a serious gram-positive infection. Which beta-lactam is safest to consider with appropriate precautions?
Answer: A carbapenem such as meropenem after specialist review
Carbapenems have the lowest cross-reactivity risk (~1%) with penicillins, and meropenem can be used after specialist allergy review in life-threatening situations.
Which clinical finding would most indicate that a patient's puffer technique with a dry powder inhaler (DPI) is inadequate?
Answer: The patient fails to produce a noticeable powder taste or sensation
DPIs require a fast, forceful inhalation; absence of a powder taste or sensation suggests insufficient inspiratory flow to disperse the dose.
For a patient receiving total parenteral nutrition (TPN), which electrolyte abnormality is most associated with refeeding syndrome upon initiation?
Answer: Hypophosphataemia
Refeeding syndrome is characterised primarily by severe hypophosphataemia caused by intracellular phosphate shifts driven by insulin release when feeding resumes.
According to Australian guidelines on safe handling of cytotoxic drugs in community pharmacies, what is the minimum requirement when counting or manipulating oral cytotoxic tablets?
Answer: Double chemotherapy-rated gloves and disposal in a cytotoxic waste bin
Oral cytotoxics must be handled with chemotherapy-rated double gloves and discarded as cytotoxic waste even in community settings.