Medication Safety & Error Prevention Flashcards
7 cards from real MTM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Medication Safety & Error Prevention flashcards as text
A pharmacist performing MTM discovers a patient takes methotrexate daily instead of weekly for rheumatoid arthritis. This type of error is classified as:
Answer: Wrong dose frequency error
Methotrexate for RA is dosed weekly; daily administration constitutes a wrong-frequency (schedule) error and can cause fatal toxicity.
Which element of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices' 'Key Elements of the Medication Use System' is addressed by requiring pharmacist counseling at dispensing?
Answer: Patient information
Patient information encompasses ensuring the patient understands their medications, which pharmacist counseling directly addresses.
A nurse administers IV potassium chloride undiluted as a bolus due to a missing 'MUST DILUTE' auxiliary label. Which contributing factor category does the missing label represent?
Answer: Labeling and packaging failure
Absent or inadequate auxiliary labels are a labeling and packaging failure that is a recognized contributing factor to high-alert medication errors.
In the context of medication reconciliation, which transition of care has the highest risk for unintentional medication discrepancies?
Answer: Discharge from hospital to skilled nursing facility
Hospital discharge to skilled nursing facilities is a high-risk transition because multiple care teams hand off simultaneously and medication lists are frequently incomplete or discordant.
According to the FDA MedWatch program, which of the following is a mandatory reporter of serious adverse drug events?
Answer: Drug manufacturers
Drug manufacturers are legally required (mandatory) to report serious adverse events to FDA via MedWatch; health professionals and patients report voluntarily.
A look-alike packaging mix-up between metFORMIN and metroNIDAZOLE is BEST prevented by which system-level intervention?
Answer: Separating the two drugs in storage by at least two shelf spaces
Physical separation of look-alike medications in storage is a proven system-level strategy to prevent inadvertent selection of the wrong product.
An MTM pharmacist recommends that a patient's insulin pen needles be changed with each injection. The primary safety rationale is:
Answer: Preventing lipodystrophy and inaccurate dosing from blunted needles
Reusing insulin needles causes needle tip barbing, which damages subcutaneous tissue, promotes lipodystrophy, and results in inconsistent insulin absorption.