CSPT Medication Safety 5

Question 1

A patient receives a TPN bag that was intended for a different patient. The bag contained a different potassium concentration. This event is classified as a:

Accepted Answer

Sentinel event requiring root cause analysis

Answer

A wrong-patient medication error involving an electrolyte like potassium (which can cause fatal arrhythmias) qualifies as a sentinel event requiring root cause analysis.

Question 2

Which of the following practices BEST reduces the risk of high-alert medication errors in a CSP environment?

Accepted Answer

Applying auxiliary warning labels and requiring pharmacist verification before dispensing

Answer

Auxiliary warning labels combined with mandatory pharmacist verification before dispensing are the strongest risk-reduction practices for high-alert medications.

Question 3

A pharmacy technician notices that the IV workflow software flagged a dose as '5× the normal range' for a pediatric patient. What is the appropriate response?

Accepted Answer

Contact the prescriber and pharmacist immediately to verify the dose before proceeding

Answer

A 5× overdose alert for a pediatric patient must be escalated to the pharmacist and prescriber immediately — technicians should never unilaterally override or adjust such alerts.

Question 4

Which labeling element is MOST critical for preventing medication errors with compounded electrolyte solutions?

Accepted Answer

The exact concentration expressed in mEq/mL or mmol/mL

Answer

Expressing electrolyte concentrations precisely in mEq/mL or mmol/mL prevents dangerous dosing errors caused by ambiguous strength labeling.

Question 5

During a medication safety audit, a pharmacy identifies that 3 of 10 CSP labels omitted the route of administration. This finding most directly violates:

Accepted Answer

USP <797> and state board labeling requirements for compounded sterile preparations

Answer

USP <797> and state board regulations require that all CSP labels include the route of administration as a mandatory element.

CSPT - Compounded Sterile Preparation Technician Practice Test

CSPT - Compounded Sterile Preparation Technician Practice Test

CSPT Medication Safety 5