CFPN Medication Error Investigation and Patient Safety 2

Question 1

When conducting a forensic review of a medication error, which medical record component provides the clearest timeline of medication administration?

Accepted Answer

Medication Administration Record (MAR)

Answer

The MAR provides a time-stamped, systematic record of every medication administered, making it central to forensic timeline reconstruction.

Question 2

A patient receives 10 times the ordered dose of insulin due to a decimal point error. This is an example of which type of medication error?

Accepted Answer

Wrong dose error

Answer

Administering 10 times the ordered dose due to a decimal error is a wrong dose error regardless of other factors.

Question 3

Which agency requires hospitals to report sentinel events including serious medication errors?

Accepted Answer

The Joint Commission (TJC)

Answer

The Joint Commission requires accredited facilities to report sentinel events and conduct root cause analyses as part of its accreditation standards.

Question 4

In a forensic medication error investigation, what does 'failure mode and effects analysis' (FMEA) proactively identify?

Accepted Answer

Potential failure points in a medication process before errors occur

Answer

FMEA is a prospective tool that systematically identifies where a process could fail and the potential consequences before harm occurs.

Question 5

A forensic pharmacy nurse discovers that a nurse administered a medication to the wrong patient because two patients had similar last names and were in adjacent rooms. Which system error contributed most?

Accepted Answer

Failure to use two-patient identifiers before medication administration

Answer

The Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goal requires two unique patient identifiers before medication administration to prevent wrong-patient errors.

CFPN - Certified Forensic Pharmacy Nurse Practice Test

CFPN - Certified Forensic Pharmacy Nurse Practice Test

CFPN Medication Error Investigation and Patient Safety 2