Medication Safety and Error Prevention Flashcards
6 cards from real Pharmacy practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Medication Safety and Error Prevention flashcards as text
The Swiss Cheese Model of accident causation illustrates that errors occur when:
Answer: Multiple layers of defenses all have aligned holes, allowing harm to reach the patient
The Swiss Cheese Model (James Reason) shows that safety layers (checks, protocols, double-verification) all have weaknesses; errors cause harm only when flaws align simultaneously.
Which strategy is most effective in preventing wrong-patient errors at the dispensing window?
Answer: Verifying two patient identifiers (e.g., name and date of birth)
Using two independent patient identifiers (name + date of birth, or name + address) before dispensing prevents mix-ups between patients with similar or identical names.
A pharmacy receives a verbal order for 'morphine sulfate 10 mg IV.' The technician should:
Answer: Write it down and read it back to the prescriber for confirmation before preparing
The read-back process (write down → read back → confirm) is required for verbal and telephone orders involving high-alert medications to prevent transcription errors.
Barcode medication administration (BCMA) technology in hospitals helps prevent errors by:
Answer: Verifying patient identity and correct drug/dose/time before administration
BCMA scans patient wristbands and medication barcodes before administration, electronically confirming the 5 Rights and alerting nurses to potential errors.
Which error type is defined as administering a medication that was never ordered for the patient?
Answer: Unauthorized drug error
An unauthorized drug error (also called extra-dose or wrong-patient) occurs when a patient receives a drug that was not ordered by an authorized prescriber.
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) in pharmacy is a proactive tool used to:
Answer: Identify potential failure points in a process before errors happen
FMEA is a prospective risk assessment tool that systematically identifies potential failure modes in a process and their consequences, enabling preventive measures before harm occurs.