CPSA MCQ Flashcards
7 cards from real CPSA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 CPSA MCQ flashcards as text
Which of the following events is classified as a 'never event' by the National Quality Forum (NQF)?
Answer: Surgery performed on the wrong patient
Wrong-patient surgery is among the NQF's Serious Reportable Events (never events)—preventable, serious, and unambiguous events that should never occur in a healthcare setting.
A CPSA candidate is reviewing an aggregated adverse event trend. Which analytical tool BEST displays frequency of error types in rank order?
Answer: Pareto chart
A Pareto chart ranks categories by frequency from highest to lowest, helping teams prioritize which error types account for the majority of harm (80/20 rule).
The 'two-patient identifier' rule requires staff to verify a patient's identity using:
Answer: At least two patient-specific identifiers such as name and date of birth
The Joint Commission requires using at least two patient-specific identifiers (e.g., name, date of birth, or MRN) before administering care, medication, or procedures.
Which of the following BEST describes the role of a patient safety officer (PSO) in an organization?
Answer: Overseeing the organization's patient safety program and culture improvement
The PSO leads and coordinates the organization's patient safety program, including event reporting, RCA oversight, culture assessment, and safety improvement initiatives.
A hospital implements a rapid response team (RRT). The PRIMARY goal of this intervention is to:
Answer: Identify and intervene in patients showing early signs of deterioration
Rapid response teams are activated when bedside staff detect early clinical deterioration, with the goal of preventing progression to cardiac arrest or other critical events.
Which of the following is a characteristic of an effective patient safety event reporting system?
Answer: Non-punitive, confidential, and used to drive system improvement
Effective reporting systems are non-punitive and confidential to encourage broad participation, and findings must be fed back into process improvement to have impact.
When applying the hierarchy of controls to patient safety, which intervention is MOST effective?
Answer: Elimination of the hazard from the system
The hierarchy of controls places elimination at the top as the most effective strategy because it removes the hazard entirely rather than managing exposure to it.