Clinical Practice & Patient Safety Flashcards
7 cards from real ABA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Clinical Practice & Patient Safety flashcards as text
According to ASA standards, the minimum monitoring required during ALL anesthetics includes which of the following?
Answer: Oxygenation, ventilation, circulation, and temperature when clinically significant changes are anticipated
ASA basic anesthesia monitoring standards require continuous assessment of oxygenation, ventilation, circulation, and temperature (when indicated) for every anesthetic.
A patient under general anesthesia for orthopedic surgery develops a sudden increase in peak airway pressure from 18 to 42 cmH2O. The FIRST step in evaluation is:
Answer: Manually ventilate with a self-inflating bag to assess compliance and rule out circuit obstruction
Manual ventilation with a bag disconnects the ventilator circuit and allows the clinician to distinguish patient-related causes (bronchospasm, pneumothorax) from machine/circuit problems.
Which of the following is a key component of 'shared decision-making' in perioperative anesthesia care?
Answer: The patient's values and preferences are elicited and incorporated into the anesthetic plan
Shared decision-making requires that clinicians elicit patient values, explain options with risks and benefits, and collaboratively develop a plan that reflects patient preferences.
A 'just culture' environment in anesthesia practice is BEST characterized by which approach to error management?
Answer: Distinguishing between blameless human errors, at-risk behavior, and reckless behavior when responding to incidents
Just culture differentiates between inadvertent human error (system fix needed), at-risk behavior (coaching), and reckless conduct (disciplinary action), promoting reporting without fear.
Which of the following interventions is MOST effective in reducing postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in a high-risk patient (Apfel score ≥3)?
Answer: Use multimodal prophylaxis combining ≥2 antiemetics with TIVA and regional anesthesia
High-risk patients benefit from multimodal PONV prophylaxis combining agents of different mechanisms (e.g., ondansetron + dexamethasone), TIVA to avoid volatiles, and opioid-sparing regional techniques.
During a root-cause analysis (RCA) of an adverse event, which tool BEST helps identify contributing system factors rather than individual blame?
Answer: Ishikawa (fishbone) cause-and-effect diagram
The Ishikawa fishbone diagram systematically maps contributing causes across categories (equipment, people, process, environment), focusing on system factors rather than individual blame.
A parturient at 38 weeks gestation presents for emergent cesarean delivery under general anesthesia. Which combination of measures BEST reduces aspiration risk at induction?
Answer: Preoxygenation, sodium citrate, cricoid pressure during RSI with succinylcholine
For obstetric general anesthesia, the combination of antacid (sodium citrate), preoxygenation, and rapid sequence induction with cricoid pressure minimizes aspiration risk at a critical airway moment.