Medication Administration Safety Flashcards

ISMP recommends that insulin be administered using only dedicated insulin syringes or insulin pens primarily to prevent which error?

Answer: Dose measurement errors caused by using tuberculin or other syringes

Using non-insulin syringes to draw up insulin can result in significant dosing errors because the unit markings differ; dedicated insulin syringes are calibrated specifically in insulin units.

According to ISMP, which practice is recommended to reduce the risk of errors when administering multiple IV medications through the same line?

Answer: Trace all lines from the patient back to their origin before connecting

Tracing lines from the patient's body back to their source ('trace back to source') ensures the correct medication is connected to the intended access point, preventing misconnections.

ISMP recommends against crushing extended-release or enteric-coated tablets primarily because:

Answer: Crushing alters the drug release mechanism, potentially causing toxicity or reduced efficacy

Crushing extended-release or enteric-coated formulations destroys the controlled delivery mechanism, potentially releasing the entire dose at once and causing toxicity or subtherapeutic levels.

ISMP's Medication Safety Self Assessment focuses on 'forcing functions' as an error prevention strategy. A forcing function is best described as:

Answer: A physical or electronic barrier that makes it impossible to complete an unsafe action

Forcing functions are design features that physically or electronically prevent an unsafe action from being completed, such as incompatible connectors that cannot be joined.

Which of the following is an ISMP recommendation for reducing 10-fold dosing errors in pediatric patients?

Answer: Require independent double-checks and weight-based dose verification using a standardized tool

ISMP recommends independent double-checks combined with standardized weight-based dose calculation tools to catch the 10-fold errors that are disproportionately common in pediatric care.

ISMP recommends that patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pumps include which safety feature to prevent basal rate errors?

Answer: Pharmacy-prepared, labeled syringes and independent double-checks of pump programming

ISMP recommends pharmacy-prepared and labeled PCA syringes combined with independent double-checks of all pump programming to prevent opioid-related basal rate errors.

According to ISMP, when a medication error or near-miss occurs, the most important immediate action is to:

Answer: Ensure patient safety, report the event, and conduct a systems-based analysis to prevent recurrence

ISMP's safety culture model prioritizes patient safety first, followed by non-punitive reporting and systems-based root cause analysis to identify and fix underlying process vulnerabilities.