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• Medication safety
• Major drug classes
• Clinical judgment with meds
• Adverse effects, monitoring, and teaching
• Dose calculations
1. What is the most effective way to prevent medication administration errors while
ensuring patient safety and consistency in practice?
A. Rely on memory
B. Give medications quickly
C. Skip documentation
D. Use the Six Rights of medication administration
Rationale: The Six Rights—right patient, right drug, right dose, right route, right time,
and right documentation—create a standardized safety framework that allows nurses to
systematically verify each component of medication administration, thereby significantly
reducing the risk of errors before the medication reaches the patient.
2. Which strategy is most effective in reducing errors caused by look-alike or sound-alike
medications, which can lead to serious patient harm if not addressed?
A. Store medications alphabetically
B. Use tall-man lettering and separate storage
C. Rely on pharmacy only
D. Handwritten labels
, Rationale: Tall-man lettering emphasizes differences in similar-looking drug names (e.g.,
hydrALAZINE vs. hydrOXYzine), which, when combined with physical separation
during storage, minimizes the risk of accidental administration of the wrong medication,
particularly in high-stress clinical environments.
3. A nurse finds an unlabeled syringe in the medication preparation area. What is the safest
course of action?
A. Administer it anyway
B. Ask another staff member to guess the contents
C. Discard and prepare a properly labeled dose
D. Save it for later
Rationale: Unlabeled syringes represent a high-risk safety hazard because administering
unknown medications can lead to life-threatening errors. The nurse must never rely on
guesswork; proper disposal and preparation of a labeled dose ensures patient safety.
4. Which of the following is considered a high-alert medication due to its potential to cause
serious harm if administered incorrectly?
A. Vitamin C
B. Loratadine
C. Heparin
D. Ibuprofen
Rationale: High-alert medications, such as heparin, insulin, and chemotherapeutic agents,
have a higher risk of causing severe adverse outcomes, including death, if misused. Extra
safeguards, such as independent double-checks and careful monitoring, are essential
when administering these drugs
5. What is the primary goal of performing medication reconciliation during transitions of
care?
A. Replace all medications
B. Cancel all home medications
, C. Give all medications immediately
D. Obtain an accurate and complete medication list to prevent omissions,
duplications, and drug interactions
Rationale: Medication reconciliation ensures that changes in therapy are intentional and
safe, preventing potentially harmful errors such as duplication of therapy, omissions, or
dangerous interactions, especially during admissions, transfers, and discharges.
6. Which abbreviation practice is safest to reduce the risk of misinterpretation and
medication errors?
A. U
B. QD
C. IU
D. Write full words (e.g., “units” or “once daily”)
Rationale: Abbreviations like “U” or “QD” are prone to misreading, which can lead to
tenfold dosing errors or missed doses. Writing full words eliminates ambiguity and
enhances clarity for all healthcare team members.
7. What is an independent double-check in medication administration?
A. Both nurses check together at the same time
B. Trust pharmacy calculations only
C. Two clinicians verify the medication and dose separately
D. Nurse checks later without verification
Rationale: Independent verification by two clinicians who check calculations, medication
type, dose, and route separately prevents confirmation bias and significantly reduces
errors with high-risk medications, such as insulin, anticoagulants, and chemotherapy.
8. Which intervention most effectively reduces IV pump programming errors in high-risk
clinical settings?
, A. Disable drug libraries
B. Allow frequent overrides
C. Use smart pumps with integrated drug libraries and safety alerts
D. Allow untrained staff to program pumps
Rationale: Smart pumps with drug libraries provide automated dose-limit alerts and
standardized infusion protocols, reducing programming errors and enhancing patient
safety by preventing both underdosing and overdosing
9. Before administering a cephalosporin to a patient with a documented penicillin allergy,
what is the safest action for the nurse?
A. Ignore the allergy and administer
B. Give an antihistamine prophylactically
C. Clarify allergy history and consult the prescriber for guidance
D. Substitute another penicillin
Rationale: Cross-reactivity between penicillin and cephalosporins is possible. Clarifying
the type and severity of prior allergic reactions ensures patient safety and avoids potential
anaphylaxis.
10. A near-miss in medication administration is best defined as:
A. An error causing harm
B. A sentinel event
C. An error that is caught before reaching the patient
D. A minor drug interaction
Rationale: Near-misses reveal vulnerabilities in the medication system without causing
patient harm, providing critical opportunities for education, process improvement, and
prevention of future errors.
11. Which action is essential when administering IV potassium chloride, given its high
potential for causing life-threatening complications?
A. Check patient weight only
B. Inspect IV site only
C. Continuously monitor cardiac rhythm and serum potassium levels
D. Monitor respirations only