Galen NUR 283 Comp - Transition to RN Practice | Pharmacology and
Medication Safety – (2026/2027) Actual Questions & Answers with
Rationales 100% Guarantee Pass
Medication Safety Fundamentals
1. Which action is most important before administering a
medication?
A. Verify the patient's identity using approved identifiers
B. Ask the roommate to identify the patient
C. Check the room number only
D. Assume the medication is correct because it is in the
patient's drawer
Answer: A
Rationale: Using approved patient identifiers is a fundamental
medication-safety practice and helps prevent wrong-patient
errors.
2. Which medication error should be reported immediately?
A. A medication was administered to the wrong patient
B. A routine dose was administered correctly
C. A medication was documented correctly
D. A patient received an expected therapeutic response
Answer: A
Rationale: Wrong-patient administration is a serious
medication error requiring prompt assessment,
notification, documentation, and reporting according to
policy.
,3. Which abbreviation should generally be avoided
because it can be misread?
A. U for units
B. mL
C. mg
D. kg
Answer: A
Rationale: "U" can be mistaken for a number or other
characters. Writing "units" reduces ambiguity.
4. Which notation is safest for a dose of one-half
milligram?
A. 0.5 mg
B. .5 mg
C. 5.0 mg
D. 05 mg
Answer: A
Rationale: A leading zero should be used for doses less
than one. A trailing zero should not be used for whole-
number doses.
5. Which notation should be avoided?
A. 5.0 mg
B. 0.5 mg
,C. 5 mg
D. 0.25 mg
Answer: A
Rationale: A trailing zero can be misread as a larger dose.
Writing 5 mg is safer.
6. What is the primary purpose of medication
reconciliation?
A. Compare the patient's medication lists across
transitions of care
B. Eliminate all medications
C. Determine which nurse made an error
D. Replace patient education
Answer: A
Rationale: Medication reconciliation identifies
discrepancies between medication lists and helps
prevent omissions, duplications, and unintended
changes.
7. Which patient is at particularly high risk for
medication-related harm?
A. Older adult taking multiple medications
B. Healthy adult taking one medication
C. Adult with no medications
D. Patient receiving one topical medication
, Answer: A
Rationale: Older adults and patients with polypharmacy
have increased risk for interactions, adverse effects, and
dosing problems.
8. What is polypharmacy?
A. Use of multiple medications by one patient
B. Administration of one medication by several nurses
C. Giving medication through multiple routes
D. Using only nonprescription medications
Answer: A
Rationale: Polypharmacy refers to the use of multiple
medications, especially when it increases complexity or
risk.
9. Which action helps prevent look-alike/sound-alike
medication errors?
A. Carefully compare the medication label with the order
B. Rely on package color
C. Skip barcode verification
D. Assume similarly named drugs are interchangeable
Answer: A
Rationale: Careful label verification reduces errors
involving medications with similar names or packaging.
Medication Safety – (2026/2027) Actual Questions & Answers with
Rationales 100% Guarantee Pass
Medication Safety Fundamentals
1. Which action is most important before administering a
medication?
A. Verify the patient's identity using approved identifiers
B. Ask the roommate to identify the patient
C. Check the room number only
D. Assume the medication is correct because it is in the
patient's drawer
Answer: A
Rationale: Using approved patient identifiers is a fundamental
medication-safety practice and helps prevent wrong-patient
errors.
2. Which medication error should be reported immediately?
A. A medication was administered to the wrong patient
B. A routine dose was administered correctly
C. A medication was documented correctly
D. A patient received an expected therapeutic response
Answer: A
Rationale: Wrong-patient administration is a serious
medication error requiring prompt assessment,
notification, documentation, and reporting according to
policy.
,3. Which abbreviation should generally be avoided
because it can be misread?
A. U for units
B. mL
C. mg
D. kg
Answer: A
Rationale: "U" can be mistaken for a number or other
characters. Writing "units" reduces ambiguity.
4. Which notation is safest for a dose of one-half
milligram?
A. 0.5 mg
B. .5 mg
C. 5.0 mg
D. 05 mg
Answer: A
Rationale: A leading zero should be used for doses less
than one. A trailing zero should not be used for whole-
number doses.
5. Which notation should be avoided?
A. 5.0 mg
B. 0.5 mg
,C. 5 mg
D. 0.25 mg
Answer: A
Rationale: A trailing zero can be misread as a larger dose.
Writing 5 mg is safer.
6. What is the primary purpose of medication
reconciliation?
A. Compare the patient's medication lists across
transitions of care
B. Eliminate all medications
C. Determine which nurse made an error
D. Replace patient education
Answer: A
Rationale: Medication reconciliation identifies
discrepancies between medication lists and helps
prevent omissions, duplications, and unintended
changes.
7. Which patient is at particularly high risk for
medication-related harm?
A. Older adult taking multiple medications
B. Healthy adult taking one medication
C. Adult with no medications
D. Patient receiving one topical medication
, Answer: A
Rationale: Older adults and patients with polypharmacy
have increased risk for interactions, adverse effects, and
dosing problems.
8. What is polypharmacy?
A. Use of multiple medications by one patient
B. Administration of one medication by several nurses
C. Giving medication through multiple routes
D. Using only nonprescription medications
Answer: A
Rationale: Polypharmacy refers to the use of multiple
medications, especially when it increases complexity or
risk.
9. Which action helps prevent look-alike/sound-alike
medication errors?
A. Carefully compare the medication label with the order
B. Rely on package color
C. Skip barcode verification
D. Assume similarly named drugs are interchangeable
Answer: A
Rationale: Careful label verification reduces errors
involving medications with similar names or packaging.
