Patient Safety & Quality Assurance
(26.25% of the PTCB Exam) Questions
with Correct Answers
What are High Alert/Risk Medications? - CORRECT ANSWER -Are medications that are more
likely to cause harm to a patient if used incorrectly or in error.
What is the "Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP)"? - CORRECT ANSWER -it is the
primary resource for identifying high-alert medications, like warfarin
What are Look-Alike/Sound-Alike (LASA) Medications? What method does the pharmacy use to
help differentiate between similar medications? - CORRECT ANSWER -Are similar medications
that cause a serious safety concern and a common cause of medication errors. The "Tall man
lettering" method is used on many drug products and implemented in many pharmacy systems
to help pharmacy personnel differentiate two very similar-looking medication names.
What is the Correct Order to Correct Patients - CORRECT ANSWER -The five "rights" of
medication administration is:
right drug,
right dose,
right time,
right route, and
right patient to prevent a medication error from occurring.
The 3 simple verification steps that will help get the correct order to the correct patient every
time and reduce the risk of a dispensing error: - CORRECT ANSWER -Verify name and date of
birth
Verify street address
, Briefly mention what you have for the patient to pick up
What is "Tall Man Lettering" used for? - CORRECT ANSWER -is used to help differentiate portions
of sound-alike/look-alike drug names that are different so as to draw one's eye to a potential
source of error.
(e.g., hydrALAzine vs. hydrOXYzine).
What does inventory management include? - CORRECT ANSWER -Inventory management may
include ordering and receiving products, identifying specific storage requirements, and
removing expired or recalled medications
During data entry or calculations, do you use Trailing Zeros? What about Leading Zeros? If so
when do you use it? - CORRECT ANSWER -During data entry or calculations: you do not use
trailing zeros (ex. 5.0); instead, simply write the whole number (5) and add units. A zero should
be added before a decimal point (ex. 0.5 mg or 0.75 mL) to minimize the risk of overdose.
Barcodes for drugs are used for what? What is used to verify the barcodes? - CORRECT ANSWER
-Similar to NDC codes, each drug's barcode is unique and can be used to verify that the correct
product is chosen. A scanner may be used to scan the individual drug product into the system
and to verify the correct drug is chosen in the filling process.
A pharmacist should always be available in the pharmacy in case of questions or concerns.
True or False? - CORRECT ANSWER -True
Whenever a question or concern arises that is of the clinical aspect, you must notify the
pharmacist that he/she is needed for intervention. True or False - CORRECT ANSWER -True
A pharmacy technician should never handle a clinical problem or provide clinical information, as
this is one of the many duties of the pharmacist on duty.
True or False - CORRECT ANSWER -True
(26.25% of the PTCB Exam) Questions
with Correct Answers
What are High Alert/Risk Medications? - CORRECT ANSWER -Are medications that are more
likely to cause harm to a patient if used incorrectly or in error.
What is the "Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP)"? - CORRECT ANSWER -it is the
primary resource for identifying high-alert medications, like warfarin
What are Look-Alike/Sound-Alike (LASA) Medications? What method does the pharmacy use to
help differentiate between similar medications? - CORRECT ANSWER -Are similar medications
that cause a serious safety concern and a common cause of medication errors. The "Tall man
lettering" method is used on many drug products and implemented in many pharmacy systems
to help pharmacy personnel differentiate two very similar-looking medication names.
What is the Correct Order to Correct Patients - CORRECT ANSWER -The five "rights" of
medication administration is:
right drug,
right dose,
right time,
right route, and
right patient to prevent a medication error from occurring.
The 3 simple verification steps that will help get the correct order to the correct patient every
time and reduce the risk of a dispensing error: - CORRECT ANSWER -Verify name and date of
birth
Verify street address
, Briefly mention what you have for the patient to pick up
What is "Tall Man Lettering" used for? - CORRECT ANSWER -is used to help differentiate portions
of sound-alike/look-alike drug names that are different so as to draw one's eye to a potential
source of error.
(e.g., hydrALAzine vs. hydrOXYzine).
What does inventory management include? - CORRECT ANSWER -Inventory management may
include ordering and receiving products, identifying specific storage requirements, and
removing expired or recalled medications
During data entry or calculations, do you use Trailing Zeros? What about Leading Zeros? If so
when do you use it? - CORRECT ANSWER -During data entry or calculations: you do not use
trailing zeros (ex. 5.0); instead, simply write the whole number (5) and add units. A zero should
be added before a decimal point (ex. 0.5 mg or 0.75 mL) to minimize the risk of overdose.
Barcodes for drugs are used for what? What is used to verify the barcodes? - CORRECT ANSWER
-Similar to NDC codes, each drug's barcode is unique and can be used to verify that the correct
product is chosen. A scanner may be used to scan the individual drug product into the system
and to verify the correct drug is chosen in the filling process.
A pharmacist should always be available in the pharmacy in case of questions or concerns.
True or False? - CORRECT ANSWER -True
Whenever a question or concern arises that is of the clinical aspect, you must notify the
pharmacist that he/she is needed for intervention. True or False - CORRECT ANSWER -True
A pharmacy technician should never handle a clinical problem or provide clinical information, as
this is one of the many duties of the pharmacist on duty.
True or False - CORRECT ANSWER -True
