PSI Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the PSI exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 PSI Exam Format at a Glance
📚 PSI Topics to Study (49)
✍️ Sample PSI Questions & Answers
1. A patient on digoxin for heart failure reports nausea, yellow-green visual disturbances and palpitations. The pharmacist should:
Yellow/green visual disturbances (xanthopsia), nausea and palpitations are classic signs of digoxin toxicity. This requires urgent plasma level measurement and cardiac monitoring — potentially life-threatening arrhythmias can follow.
2. Which ethical principle requires pharmacists to act in the best interest of the patient?
Beneficence means actively doing good for the patient — the duty to promote health and wellbeing. It forms a core pillar of pharmacy ethics alongside non-maleficence, autonomy and justice.
3. Which label requirement is mandatory on all dispensed medicines in Ireland?
Irish pharmacy regulations require labels to include: patient name, drug name, strength, form, directions for use, quantity, pharmacy details and dispensing date at minimum.
4. A Monitored Dosage System (MDS) such as a Dosette box is most appropriate for:
MDS organises medicines by time of day and day of week. They are indicated for patients struggling with complex regimens due to cognitive impairment, polypharmacy or disability.
5. Which type of error occurs when the correct drug is given to the wrong patient?
A patient identification error is a dispensing/administration error where the correct medicine is given to the incorrect patient. Two patient identifiers (name + DOB) should always be confirmed before dispensing.
6. Which important counselling point applies to all patients using topical corticosteroids long-term on the face?
Facial skin is thin and absorbs corticosteroids more readily. Prolonged use causes skin thinning (atrophy), visible blood vessels (telangiectasia), and steroid rosacea/perioral dermatitis — all difficult to reverse.