CFPN Medication Error Investigation and Patient Safety

Question 1

According to the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP), which category represents an error that reached the patient and caused death?

Accepted Answer

Category I

Answer

NCC MERP Category I represents errors that may have contributed to or resulted in patient death.

Question 2

What is a 'near miss' in medication safety terminology?

Accepted Answer

An error that was caught and corrected before reaching the patient

Answer

Near misses are caught errors that never reach the patient; they are valuable learning opportunities for system improvement.

Question 3

In forensic investigation of a fatal medication error, which principle guides the analysis toward system failures rather than individual blame?

Accepted Answer

Just Culture philosophy

Answer

Just Culture distinguishes between human error, at-risk behavior, and reckless behavior to promote learning and appropriate accountability.

Question 4

Which medication error is most commonly associated with look-alike/sound-alike (LASA) drug pairs?

Accepted Answer

Wrong drug error

Answer

LASA drug pairs cause wrong drug errors when staff confuse similar-looking or similar-sounding medication names.

Question 5

A root cause analysis (RCA) of a medication error is primarily conducted to:

Accepted Answer

Identify systemic factors that contributed to the error and prevent recurrence

Answer

RCAs focus on system-level contributing factors and corrective actions rather than assigning individual blame.

CFPN - Certified Forensic Pharmacy Nurse Practice Test

CFPN - Certified Forensic Pharmacy Nurse Practice Test

CFPN Medication Error Investigation and Patient Safety