CPPS IHI STUDY EXAM GUIDE 2025/2026 QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔Which of the following is the best first step in changing the culture of safety in a
health care organization?
A.) Conduct an assessment and gather focused data.
B.) Develop, policies, procedures, and checklists for safety.
C.) Hire an experienced patient safety officer with a strong performance record.
D.) Implement communication and teamwork tools. - ✔✔A.) Conduct an assessment
and gather focused data.
✔✔A nurse on a medical-surgical unit does not comply with the barcode medication
administration (BCMA) procedure while caring for one of her patients. Her supervisor is
deciding how to respond.
As her supervisor, what would you do?
A.) Ask the nurse what was occurring at the time, and why she chose to bypass the
policy.
B.) Counsel the nurse on the importance of following policy
C.) Ask staff if there are adequate scanners to meet their needs.
D.) Request that the pharmacy run a report of the BCMA compliance rates of the unit. -
✔✔A.) Ask the nurse what was occurring at the time, and why she chose to bypass the
policy.
✔✔What are the 3 key areas of Patient Safety leadership? - ✔✔Strategy, Operations,
and Engagement
✔✔When setting organizational safety priorities, it is best to:
A.) Review the current literature to identify areas of frequent concern.
B.) Focus primarily on accreditation standards and requirements.
C.) Determine priorities based on pay-for-performance measurements.
D.) Develop a mechanism to gather input from a variety of sources. - ✔✔D.) Develop a
mechanism to gather input from a variety of sources.
✔✔A hospital is attempting to engage the board in their quality endeavors. Which is the
best strategy to improve the board's involvement?
A.) Focus only on measures that are tied to reimbursement.
B.) Report all quality measures to the board.
C.) Align the quality measures with the hospital's strategic goals.
D.) Set only goals that can be attained. - ✔✔C.) Align the quality measures with the
hospital's strategic goals.
✔✔Which of the following is required to begin the journey to a culture of safety?
A.) Care should depend on independent, individual performance excellence.
B.) Accountability must be universal and reciprocal, not just top-down.
,C.) Care should be provider-centered rather than patient-centered.
D.) RCA teams must look at errors as individual failures. - ✔✔B.) Accountability must be
universal and reciprocal, not just top-down.
✔✔You are meeting with your organization's CFO to review the likely Return on
Investment (ROI) for several possible patient safety initiatives. Based only on the
projected ROI, which project is most likely to receive the CFO's approval?
A.) Implementation of Computerized Provider Order Entry to reduce the number of
medication errors with an ROI of 1.0, or 100 percent.
B.) Procurement of new beds with built-in alarms to reduce falls with an ROI of 0.9, or
90 percent.
C.) Implementation of evidence-based guidelines to reduce the rate of catheter-
associated urinary tract infections with an ROI of 3.0, or 300 percent.
D.) Implementation of a sitter program, which has been shown to reduce falls and
improve patient satisfaction with an ROI of 0.5, or 50 percent. - ✔✔C.) Implementation
of evidence-based guidelines to reduce the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract
infections with an ROI of 3.0, or 300 percent.
✔✔The free, uninhibited flow of information that is open to the scrutiny of others is the
definition of:
A.) Quality care
B.) Just Culture
C.) Transparency
D.) High reliability - ✔✔C.) Transparency
✔✔When an adverse event occurs with a patient:
A.) An investigation should commence to determine the staff member at fault.
B.) The event should be openly discussed with the patient, family, and staff.
C.) A root cause analysis should be completed and submitted to the Joint Commission.
D.) The patient should not be told about the event because of the possibility of legal
action. - ✔✔B.) The event should be openly discussed with the patient, family, and staff.
✔✔Which of the following changes to operations would best highlight leadership's
commitment to patient safety?
A.) Executive leadership regularly participating in leadership rounds and daily safety
briefings
B.) The hospital executive reporting on patient safety at every board meeting
C.) Implementing quarterly town hall meetings to share organizational information
D.) Including an executive representative on all root cause analysis teams - ✔✔A.)
Executive leadership regularly participating in leadership rounds and daily safety
briefings
✔✔Which of the following tactics is the best approach to increase near-miss event
reporting?
A.) Include staff names in event reports.
, B.) Give staff up to a week to report events.
C.) Require staff to report all errors and near-misses.
D.) Provide event reporters with feedback and follow-up - ✔✔D.) Provide event
reporters with feedback and follow-up
✔✔You are charged with identifying and recommending a new event reporting system
for your organization. Which of the following would be the best technique to use when
evaluating new software systems?
A.) Invite senior leaders of the organization to a workshop to ask questions of the
software vendor. Review leader evaluations following the workshop.
B.) Conduct an open vendor fair for all staff to review various options. Evaluate written
and verbal feedback on the systems from participants.
C.) Survey your peers across the nation to determine the most popular vendor.
Recommend the vendor that is referenced most frequently.
D.) Develop a "Request for Proposal" to submit to various software vendors. Evaluate
the best responses to make a recommendation. - ✔✔B.) Conduct an open vendor fair
for all staff to review various options. Evaluate written and verbal feedback on the
systems from participants.
✔✔During daily rounding, a vice president observed a problem in a particular device
that impacts delivery of care. He shared the information with other senior executive
team members, and, upon further investigation, they learned that the issue was
common. The findings resulted in the organization replacing the defective devices in all
affected areas.
Which of the following high-reliability principles did the leaders of this organization
apply?
A.) Deference to expertise
B.) Sensitivity to operations
C.) Resiliency
D.) Reluctance to accept simple explanations - ✔✔B.) Sensitivity to operations
✔✔A patient safety professional wants to ensure engagement of employees in a new
patient safety initiative in the hospital. He should:
A.) Use staff recommendations for workflow.
B.) Collect data on previous initiatives.
C.) Communicate the purpose of the initiative to the governing board.
D.) Train staff on patient safety principles. - ✔✔A.) Use staff recommendations for
workflow.
✔✔A medication error at a nearby hospital has recently received media attention. In
examining your own organization, you find similar processes are in place to the ones
that contributed to the error. You'd like to change your hospital's processes but worry
people will be resistant to change.
What would be the best method to use to influence others as to the need for change?
ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔Which of the following is the best first step in changing the culture of safety in a
health care organization?
A.) Conduct an assessment and gather focused data.
B.) Develop, policies, procedures, and checklists for safety.
C.) Hire an experienced patient safety officer with a strong performance record.
D.) Implement communication and teamwork tools. - ✔✔A.) Conduct an assessment
and gather focused data.
✔✔A nurse on a medical-surgical unit does not comply with the barcode medication
administration (BCMA) procedure while caring for one of her patients. Her supervisor is
deciding how to respond.
As her supervisor, what would you do?
A.) Ask the nurse what was occurring at the time, and why she chose to bypass the
policy.
B.) Counsel the nurse on the importance of following policy
C.) Ask staff if there are adequate scanners to meet their needs.
D.) Request that the pharmacy run a report of the BCMA compliance rates of the unit. -
✔✔A.) Ask the nurse what was occurring at the time, and why she chose to bypass the
policy.
✔✔What are the 3 key areas of Patient Safety leadership? - ✔✔Strategy, Operations,
and Engagement
✔✔When setting organizational safety priorities, it is best to:
A.) Review the current literature to identify areas of frequent concern.
B.) Focus primarily on accreditation standards and requirements.
C.) Determine priorities based on pay-for-performance measurements.
D.) Develop a mechanism to gather input from a variety of sources. - ✔✔D.) Develop a
mechanism to gather input from a variety of sources.
✔✔A hospital is attempting to engage the board in their quality endeavors. Which is the
best strategy to improve the board's involvement?
A.) Focus only on measures that are tied to reimbursement.
B.) Report all quality measures to the board.
C.) Align the quality measures with the hospital's strategic goals.
D.) Set only goals that can be attained. - ✔✔C.) Align the quality measures with the
hospital's strategic goals.
✔✔Which of the following is required to begin the journey to a culture of safety?
A.) Care should depend on independent, individual performance excellence.
B.) Accountability must be universal and reciprocal, not just top-down.
,C.) Care should be provider-centered rather than patient-centered.
D.) RCA teams must look at errors as individual failures. - ✔✔B.) Accountability must be
universal and reciprocal, not just top-down.
✔✔You are meeting with your organization's CFO to review the likely Return on
Investment (ROI) for several possible patient safety initiatives. Based only on the
projected ROI, which project is most likely to receive the CFO's approval?
A.) Implementation of Computerized Provider Order Entry to reduce the number of
medication errors with an ROI of 1.0, or 100 percent.
B.) Procurement of new beds with built-in alarms to reduce falls with an ROI of 0.9, or
90 percent.
C.) Implementation of evidence-based guidelines to reduce the rate of catheter-
associated urinary tract infections with an ROI of 3.0, or 300 percent.
D.) Implementation of a sitter program, which has been shown to reduce falls and
improve patient satisfaction with an ROI of 0.5, or 50 percent. - ✔✔C.) Implementation
of evidence-based guidelines to reduce the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract
infections with an ROI of 3.0, or 300 percent.
✔✔The free, uninhibited flow of information that is open to the scrutiny of others is the
definition of:
A.) Quality care
B.) Just Culture
C.) Transparency
D.) High reliability - ✔✔C.) Transparency
✔✔When an adverse event occurs with a patient:
A.) An investigation should commence to determine the staff member at fault.
B.) The event should be openly discussed with the patient, family, and staff.
C.) A root cause analysis should be completed and submitted to the Joint Commission.
D.) The patient should not be told about the event because of the possibility of legal
action. - ✔✔B.) The event should be openly discussed with the patient, family, and staff.
✔✔Which of the following changes to operations would best highlight leadership's
commitment to patient safety?
A.) Executive leadership regularly participating in leadership rounds and daily safety
briefings
B.) The hospital executive reporting on patient safety at every board meeting
C.) Implementing quarterly town hall meetings to share organizational information
D.) Including an executive representative on all root cause analysis teams - ✔✔A.)
Executive leadership regularly participating in leadership rounds and daily safety
briefings
✔✔Which of the following tactics is the best approach to increase near-miss event
reporting?
A.) Include staff names in event reports.
, B.) Give staff up to a week to report events.
C.) Require staff to report all errors and near-misses.
D.) Provide event reporters with feedback and follow-up - ✔✔D.) Provide event
reporters with feedback and follow-up
✔✔You are charged with identifying and recommending a new event reporting system
for your organization. Which of the following would be the best technique to use when
evaluating new software systems?
A.) Invite senior leaders of the organization to a workshop to ask questions of the
software vendor. Review leader evaluations following the workshop.
B.) Conduct an open vendor fair for all staff to review various options. Evaluate written
and verbal feedback on the systems from participants.
C.) Survey your peers across the nation to determine the most popular vendor.
Recommend the vendor that is referenced most frequently.
D.) Develop a "Request for Proposal" to submit to various software vendors. Evaluate
the best responses to make a recommendation. - ✔✔B.) Conduct an open vendor fair
for all staff to review various options. Evaluate written and verbal feedback on the
systems from participants.
✔✔During daily rounding, a vice president observed a problem in a particular device
that impacts delivery of care. He shared the information with other senior executive
team members, and, upon further investigation, they learned that the issue was
common. The findings resulted in the organization replacing the defective devices in all
affected areas.
Which of the following high-reliability principles did the leaders of this organization
apply?
A.) Deference to expertise
B.) Sensitivity to operations
C.) Resiliency
D.) Reluctance to accept simple explanations - ✔✔B.) Sensitivity to operations
✔✔A patient safety professional wants to ensure engagement of employees in a new
patient safety initiative in the hospital. He should:
A.) Use staff recommendations for workflow.
B.) Collect data on previous initiatives.
C.) Communicate the purpose of the initiative to the governing board.
D.) Train staff on patient safety principles. - ✔✔A.) Use staff recommendations for
workflow.
✔✔A medication error at a nearby hospital has recently received media attention. In
examining your own organization, you find similar processes are in place to the ones
that contributed to the error. You'd like to change your hospital's processes but worry
people will be resistant to change.
What would be the best method to use to influence others as to the need for change?
