ISMP Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the ISMP exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 ISMP Exam Format at a Glance
📚 ISMP Topics to Study (33)
✍️ Sample ISMP Questions & Answers
1. A pharmacist notices that two drugs with similar names — HYDROmorphone and morphine — are stored adjacent to each other in the ADC. The best ISMP-aligned corrective action is to:
Physical separation combined with tall-man lettering targets both the storage and labeling hazards for LASA pairs simultaneously.
2. Submitting a MedWatch report may be done by all of the following EXCEPT:
The FDA's MedWatch program provides several convenient methods for reporting adverse events, product quality problems, and medication errors. These standard methods include online submission, fax, phone, and mail. Reporting 'in person' is not a listed or standard option for submitting a MedWatch report.
3. Which type of error reporting does ISMP encourage healthcare facilities to adopt?
ISMP advocates for voluntary, non-punitive reporting systems so that near misses and errors are reported without fear, enabling learning and prevention.
4. Which best describes the ISMP concept of a 'near miss' in medication safety?
A near miss is an event that could have caused harm but was intercepted before reaching the patient; ISMP encourages reporting these for system improvement.
5. Which of the following abbreviations does ISMP include on its 'Do Not Use' list because it is frequently misinterpreted?
ISMP lists 'QD' (once daily) as dangerous because it is frequently misread as 'QID' (four times daily), causing fourfold overdoses.
6. ISMP's safety culture recommendations include which approach to staffing and workload?
ISMP recognizes that unsafe staffing ratios create time pressure that leads to shortcuts and errors, so adequate staffing is a safety culture prerequisite.