Deck 11: Medication Errors and Prevention

Question 1

Receiving two or three medications for the same condition is referred to as:

A) polypharmacy
B) pharmacology
C) polytoxicity
D) none of the above

Answer 1

polypharmacy

Question 2

Strategies for handling medication errors include all the following except:

A) planning
B) evaluation
C) administration
D) assessment

Answer 2

administration

Question 3

Unexpected occurrences involving death or serious physical or psychological injury are called:

A) adverse effects
B) sentinel events
C) side effects
D) medication errors

Answer 3

sentinel events

Question 4

Which organization has established patient safety standards?

A) FDA
B) DEA
C) TJC
D) CDC

Question 5

Which of the following agencies coordinates the reporting of medication errors?

A) FDA
B) DEA
C) TJC
D) CDC

Question 6

Toxic effects of medications may be caused by:

A) decreased renal function
B) altered memory
C) less acute vision
D) all of the above

Question 7

The most common medication error involves:

A) packaging
B) stat orders
C) dosage
D) preparation

Question 8

Medication errors can occur in how many stages within the medication process?

A) 2
B) 3
C) 5
D) 7

Question 9

According to the Institute of Medicine, how many deaths occur from medical errors annually in the United States?

A) 7,440
B) 19,000
C) 45,000
D) 98,000

Question 10

Which of the following general recommendations may reduce medication errors?

A) Providing suitable work environments for safe, effective drug preparation
B) Clearly defining a system for drug administration
C) Using standardized measurement systems
D) All of the above are correct

Question 11

Which type of medication error describes an occurrence that required intervention necessary to sustain life?

A) Category A
B) Category B
C) Category G
D) Category H

Question 12

Health-care professionals should double-check medications against which of the following?

A) Superbill
B) Invoice
C) Family history
D) Medication administration record (MAR)

Question 13

A system designed to prevent future mistakes and ask what happened, why it happened, and what can be done to prevent its recurrence is called:

A) sentinel event
B) root cause analysis (RCA)
C) MedWatch
D) polypharmacy

Question 14

Keeping track of a patient's medications as he or she changes health-care providers is called:

A) polypharmacy
B) PHI
C) automatic surveillance
D) medication reconciliation

Question 15

How many drug orders and label checks must be performed when dispensing and administering medications?

A) Two
B) Three
C) Five
D) Ten

Question 16

In larger facilities, what departments are utilized to minimize medication errors and examine risks that may cause them?

A) Risk management
B) Automation
C) Coding
D) Administration

Question 17

MedWatch is a program for reporting medication errors and was established by which government agency?

A) CDC
B) DEA
C) OSHA
D) FDA

Question 18

Which organization has helped to standardize the medication error reporting system?

A) OSHA
B) TJD
C) NCC MERP
D) CDC

Question 19

Which medication error-reporting program, established by the U.S. Pharmacopeia, is used by hospitals?

A) MEDMARX
B) Safe Medicine
C) NSPG
D) AERP

Question 20

A separate written report that is completed after updating the specific records about a medication error is known as which of the following?

A) Anonymous report
B) Incident or occurrence report
C) MAR
D) Legal record

Question 21

The steps that can help in avoiding medication errors and promoting safe administration of medications include assessment, planning, implementation, and:

A) education
B) double-checking
C) evaluation
D) identification

Question 22

A medication error classified as Category I is described as which of the following?

A) Circumstances or events that have the capacity to cause errors
B) Errors that reached the patient but did not cause any harm
C) Errors that occurred and may have contributed to or resulted in temporary harm to the patient (and required intervention)
D) Errors that occurred that might have contributed to or resulted in the patient's death

Question 23

Nearly half of all fatal medication errors occur in patients older than:

A) 2 years old
B) 12 years old
C) 30 years old
D) 60 years old

Question 24

Why are children more likely to experience medication errors in relation to dosages?

A) Because of polypharmacy
B) Because up-to-date information is not available
C) Because dosages are based on body weight
D) Because of their diurnal rhythms

Question 25

After a patient is discharged, he or she should receive a complete list of which of the following?

A) Any dosing errors that occurred
B) Other health-care providers
C) Medications to be taken
D) Herbal supplements that can be used instead of approved medications

Question 26

Patients must be educated so they understand the potential adverse effects that need to be reported:

A) immediately
B) during the next visit they make to their physician
C) that are allergy related
D) to family members so the effects can be monitored by them

Question 27

First stage errors can occur during prescribing or ordering when practitioners are:

A) distracted or interrupted
B) inexperienced
C) distracted from counseling patients
D) not monitoring patients for reactions to medications

Question 28

Manufacturing mistakes can lead to which of the following?

A) Polypharmacy
B) Root cause analysis
C) Medication errors
D) None of the above

Question 29

A medication error may occur when dealing with outpatients because pharmacists do NOT do which of the following?

A) Administer medications correctly
B) Report medication errors
C) Adequately counsel patients
D) Write prescriptions clearly

Question 30

The seven potential causes of medication errors include all the following except:

A) wrong patient
B) wrong age
C) incorrect dose
D) incorrect time