Studied by 0 people
Looks like no one added any tags here yet for you.
What are High Alert/Risk Medications?
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)"?
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?
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
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:
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?
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?
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?
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?
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?
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
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
True
When do pharmacists conduct Drug Utilization Review (DUR)? What does the DUR include?
Pharmacists are to conduct drug utilization reviews (DURs) prior to dispensing a new medication or refilling an existing order. The DUR should include a comprehensive review of the patient's prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications, with a special focus on drug-drug interactions and potential adverse drug events (ADEs).
What is Adverse Drug Event (ADE)? Should it be documented in a patient's chart?
Are unwanted reactions that occur from the normal use or potential misuse of a medication. These events can be due to a medication error or an adverse reaction from practical use. Any adverse event, regardless of its origin, should be documented in a patient's chart to minimize the risk of it occurring again in the future.
Adverse events from a medication are more serious than a side effect and have the potential to cause injury or even be life threatening.
True or False
True
When an Adverse Drug Event happen, who should it be reported to for quality assurance purposes?
such events to be reported to the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) for quality assurance purposes.
An OTC (over-the-counter) medication is one that does not require a prescription.
True or False
True
What does Therapeutic substitution allow?
Therapeutic substitution allows for a medication to be switched to a different medication in the same drug class (though not the same drug) without first checking with the prescriber.
Therapeutic Substitution is different than Generic Substitution.
When does it occur?
therapeutic substitution is different than generic substitution, which occurs when the generic version of a drug is substituted for the brand name drug (e.g., "Zoloft" is prescribed but "sertraline" [generic for Zoloft] is dispensed).
Medication misuse is a public health crisis. Therefore, pharmacy personnel should be vigilant regarding fraudulent prescriptions and changes in patient behavior to help identify cases of misuse and abuse.
True or False
True
Identifying underlying causes of missed doses can help avoid treatment failures and adverse outcomes moving forward.
True or False
True
Adverse reactions can occur right after a vaccine is given or even up to ____?____ days thereafter.
14 days thereafter
Is it important for the patient to be vigilant post-immunization and notify the administering pharmacist of any unusual reactions?
Yes
Adverse events related to immunizations should be reported by the pharmacist to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)- managed by the CDC and FDA.
True or False?
True
A complete and running list of a patient's allergies, including ___?___, should be documented before dispensing any pharmacy product.
reaction type
When the pharmacist performs a drug utilization review, he/she reviews the patient's _____?_____ and _____?_____ list to take into account any potential for drug-drug interactions.
profile and medication list
Some drug-drug interactions may warrant specific counseling points or monitoring parameters for the pharmacist to go over with the patient prior to dispensing.
True or False
True
What errors should be reported and documented both internally and externally for quality assurance purposes?
Adverse events and medication errors
FDA has a program called ____?____, where healthcare providers and patients can report an adverse reaction to a medication.
MedWatch
A product's integrity can be compromised due to inadequate ____________?_____________. A medication that has bypassed its expiration date should _____?_____ dispensed.
storage, temperature changes, moisture levels, etc.
should never be dispensed.
A near miss is just a close call. A near miss occurs when a medication error has taken place but by chance does not reach the patient. A near miss should also be reported internally for process improvement purposes.
True or False?
True
A ______?______ is used to determine the underlying root cause of a problem. In pharmacy, this is looking at the processes set in place for filling and dispensing a prescription and at what point did an error occur.
Root-Cause Analysis
the pharmacy technician should become familiar with ___?___, ___?___, and ___?___ of common medications. If ever in doubt, be sure to ask the pharmacist on duty prior to data entry.
standard dosing, dosage forms, and routes of administration
____?____ are typically not an issue for non-controlled medications.
Early Refills
The patient's prescription insurance will typically reject the claim when the pharmacy tries to process the refill and provide the pharmacy with the next available date it can be refilled.
True or False?
True
Dispensing the correct quantity of medication is an important step of the prescription filling process and Sometimes it is not as easy as simply filling the quantity written on a prescription.
True or False?
True
Is it legal to dispense less than the quantity authorized on a prescription, but should never dispense more than what is written?
Yes
It is not uncommon for two patients to have the same name listed in your pharmacy computer system. For example, if you receive a prescription for patient Barbara Smith and there are two in your computer system, look at the date of birth to differentiate the two. However, if both Barbara Smiths have the same date of birth as well, next look at the street address to select the correct patient.
Be sure to add an ___?___ in their patient profiles to double-check patient selection so a mix-up does not happen in the future.
an alert note
The selection of an incorrect drug can occur at data entry or during product selection. True or False?
True
What is required for all compounding procedures and differs based on the type of compounding and the drug products being compounded?
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
When using PPE, it is important to follow a specific order to reduce the potential of contamination. In general, you should work from "___?___" to "___?___" parts of the PPE attire.
"dirtiest" to "cleanest"
Counting trays and spatulas should always be cleaned regularly before use and periodically throughout the work shift. This is typically done with ___?%__ isopropyl alcohol.
70%
The pharmacy countertop should be wiped down and cleaned regularly, if not more often, with the appropriate detergent or isopropyl alcohol.
True or False?
True
