Practice Test Geeks(PSA) Prescribing Safety Assessment Practice Test
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Medication Safety Flashcards

7 cards from real PSA 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 flashcards as text

  1. A patient with type 1 diabetes is found unconscious with a capillary blood glucose of 2.0 mmol/L and is unable to swallow. What is the most appropriate immediate treatment?

    Answer: Intravenous 10% glucose or intramuscular glucagon

    An unconscious patient cannot safely receive oral glucose; IV dextrose or IM glucagon are the only safe routes to rapidly correct severe hypoglycemia.

  2. A patient's INR is 7.8 and they have only minor bleeding from a venepuncture site. What is the most appropriate management?

    Answer: Withhold warfarin and administer oral vitamin K 1–5 mg

    For supratherapeutic INR with minor bleeding, withholding warfarin and giving low-dose oral vitamin K is appropriate; FFP and IV vitamin K are reserved for major or life-threatening bleeding.

  3. A patient is found with pinpoint pupils, reduced consciousness, and a respiratory rate of 5 breaths per minute. What antidote should be given immediately?

    Answer: Naloxone for suspected opioid toxicity

    Pinpoint pupils with respiratory depression and reduced consciousness form the classic opioid toxidrome, and naloxone is the specific opioid antagonist antidote.

  4. Which of the following drugs has a narrow therapeutic index that requires routine plasma level monitoring to guide dosing?

    Answer: Phenytoin

    Phenytoin has non-linear (zero-order) pharmacokinetics and a narrow therapeutic index; plasma levels must be monitored to avoid toxicity while maintaining seizure control.

  5. How does unfractionated heparin (UFH) differ from low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) in clinical practice?

    Answer: UFH can be fully reversed with protamine sulfate and is monitored with APTT

    UFH is monitored using APTT and can be fully reversed with protamine sulfate, unlike LMWH which has only partial protamine reversal and is monitored with anti-Xa levels in select populations.

  6. A patient on dabigatran presents with life-threatening gastrointestinal bleeding. Which specific reversal agent should be used?

    Answer: Idarucizumab (Praxbind)

    Idarucizumab is a monoclonal antibody fragment specifically designed to reverse dabigatran; andexanet alfa reverses factor Xa inhibitors such as rivaroxaban and apixaban.

  7. When prescribing regular opioids for chronic pain, which co-prescription is routinely indicated to prevent a predictable side effect?

    Answer: A stimulant laxative to prevent opioid-induced constipation

    Opioid-induced constipation is a universal, predictable side effect with no tolerance development; all patients on regular opioids should receive a stimulant laxative prophylactically.