IV IV Equipment & Infusion Technology 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary safety advantage of a 'smart pump' (dose-error reduction software) over a standard infusion pump?
- It automatically programs itself based on the physician order
- It uses drug libraries with hard and soft limits to alert clinicians to potential dosing errors (Correct answer)
- It eliminates the need for manual pump programming
- It calculates patient weight and adjusts doses automatically
Correct answer: It uses drug libraries with hard and soft limits to alert clinicians to potential dosing errors
Smart pumps use built-in drug libraries with hard limits (preventing dangerous doses) and soft limits (generating warnings) to reduce IV medication administration errors.
Question 2: Which type of infusion pump delivers medication at precise low rates (e.g., 0.1 mL/hour) and is most appropriate for neonatal or critical care medication delivery?
- Volumetric pump
- Syringe pump (Correct answer)
- Elastomeric pump
- Gravity drip set
Correct answer: Syringe pump
Syringe pumps deliver extremely small, precise volumes using a motor-driven syringe plunger, making them ideal for neonatal and critical care low-volume medication infusions.
Question 3: What does an occlusion alarm on an infusion pump indicate?
- The IV bag is empty
- Resistance detected in the IV line, suggesting a kinked tubing, closed clamp, or blocked catheter (Correct answer)
- The pump battery is low
- Air is detected in the IV line
Correct answer: Resistance detected in the IV line, suggesting a kinked tubing, closed clamp, or blocked catheter
An occlusion alarm indicates the pump sensor has detected abnormal resistance in the delivery line, which may be caused by a kinked tube, closed clamp, positional catheter, or clotted catheter.
Question 4: A gravity infusion is running slower than ordered. Which is the most common correctable cause?
- Pump failure
- IV bag positioned too low relative to the insertion site, reducing gravitational pressure (Correct answer)
- Catheter gauge too large for the ordered rate
- IV tubing primed incorrectly
Correct answer: IV bag positioned too low relative to the insertion site, reducing gravitational pressure
Gravity infusion rate depends on the height difference between the IV bag and the insertion site; a bag hung too low reduces hydrostatic pressure and slows the drip rate.
Question 5: Which of the following is the correct method for priming IV tubing to remove air before connecting to a patient?
- Allow fluid to run rapidly through the tubing without closing the clamp
- Open the clamp and allow fluid to slowly fill the tubing from top to bottom until all air is expelled, then close the clamp (Correct answer)
- Tap the tubing repeatedly to dislodge air bubbles, then connect
- Connect to the patient first, then prime the tubing in reverse
Correct answer: Open the clamp and allow fluid to slowly fill the tubing from top to bottom until all air is expelled, then close the clamp
Proper IV tubing priming requires opening the clamp and slowly filling the tubing from the drip chamber downward, expelling all air before clamping and connecting to the patient.
Question 6: What is the purpose of a backcheck valve in a secondary IV (piggyback) administration setup?
- To prevent backflow of blood into the IV tubing
- To prevent secondary medication from infusing into the primary bag and to allow primary solution to resume automatically after the secondary infusion completes (Correct answer)
- To regulate the rate of the secondary infusion
- To filter particulate matter from the piggyback medication
Correct answer: To prevent secondary medication from infusing into the primary bag and to allow primary solution to resume automatically after the secondary infusion completes
The backcheck valve in a piggyback setup prevents the secondary drug from entering the primary IV bag and allows primary solution to flow automatically when the secondary bag empties.
IV IV Equipment & Infusion Technology 1
What is the primary safety advantage of a 'smart pump' (dose-error reduction software) over a standard infusion pump?