PSI Patient Safety 2

Question 1

What is a medication error and how should it be managed in a pharmacy?

Accepted Answer

Any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm; it should be documented, reported, the patient assessed, and a root cause analysis conducted

Answer

Medication errors include any preventable event at any stage: prescribing, dispensing, administration, or monitoring. When discovered, the patient must be assessed for harm, the prescriber informed, an incident report completed, the error documented, and a root cause analysis conducted to prevent recurrence.

Question 2

What is the pharmacist's role in pharmacovigilance?

Accepted Answer

To monitor the safety of medicines in everyday use, detect new or changing safety signals, report adverse events, and contribute to the ongoing assessment of medicine benefit-risk profiles

Answer

Pharmacovigilance (the science of monitoring drug safety) is a responsibility shared by all healthcare professionals. Pharmacists contribute by reporting ADRs to the HPRA, monitoring patients for drug safety issues, educating patients about potential adverse effects, and staying informed about drug safety alerts.

Question 3

What should a pharmacist do if they identify a drug recall notice?

Accepted Answer

Immediately quarantine the affected stock, check dispensing records for patients who received the recalled product, notify affected patients and their prescribers, and arrange returns

Answer

Upon receiving a drug recall notice from the HPRA, the pharmacist must immediately quarantine affected stock, check records to identify patients who received the product, contact those patients and their prescribers, arrange for returns to the supplier, and document all actions taken.

Question 4

What is the importance of medication reconciliation when a patient is discharged from hospital?

Accepted Answer

To ensure continuity of care by comparing the discharge prescription with the patient's pre-admission medications, identifying any intentional changes, and preventing unintended omissions or duplications

Answer

Community pharmacists play a vital role in discharge reconciliation. They should compare the discharge prescription with the patient's previous medication record, identify any changes (new medicines, stopped medicines, dose changes), verify these changes were intentional, and counsel the patient on the updated regimen.

Question 5

What measures should a pharmacy implement to prevent dispensing errors?

Accepted Answer

Separate LASA products, use barcode scanning, implement independent double-checking, maintain adequate staffing, reduce interruptions during dispensing, and report all near misses

Answer

Error prevention requires multiple strategies: physical separation of similar products, barcode verification technology, mandatory independent final checks, appropriate staffing levels, a quiet dispensing environment, standard operating procedures, near-miss reporting, and a positive safety culture.

PSI Pharmacy Practice Test

PSI Pharmacy Practice Test

PSI Patient Safety 2