Handling of prescriptions and prevention of prescription errors MCQs With Answer

Handling of prescriptions and prevention of prescription errors MCQs With Answer

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Effective handling of prescriptions and prevention of prescription errors are essential competencies for B.Pharm students. This topic covers safe prescription handling, prescription writing, dispensing verification, medication reconciliation, legibility, dosing calculations, dose rounding, drug interactions, allergies, pediatric and geriatric considerations, look‑alike/sound‑alike drugs, Tall Man lettering, barcode scanning, and electronic prescribing. Understanding regulatory requirements, documentation, and clear communication with prescribers and patients reduces medication errors and improves medication safety. Practical skills include identifying incomplete orders, correcting dangerous abbreviations, calculating weight‑based doses, verifying units, and documenting interventions. Mastery of these areas prepares students to ensure patient safety during prescription processing and dispensing. Now let’s test your knowledge with 30 MCQs on this topic.

Q1. Which of the following is the most essential component that must appear on a legal prescription?

  • Patient name and age
  • Prescriber’s signature and registration number
  • Patient’s diagnosis
  • Pharmacy contact number

Correct Answer: Prescriber’s signature and registration number

Q2. Which abbreviation is considered dangerous and should be avoided to prevent dosing errors?

  • q.d.
  • stat
  • bid
  • prn

Correct Answer: q.d.

Q3. What is the best practice when a handwritten prescription is illegible?

  • Attempt to interpret and dispense the most likely drug
  • Contact the prescriber for clarification
  • Substitute with a commonly used drug in the class
  • Refuse to dispense without any follow-up

Correct Answer: Contact the prescriber for clarification

Q4. Which strategy specifically helps reduce look‑alike/sound‑alike (LASA) medication errors?

  • Using Tall Man lettering and separate storage
  • Prescribing brand names only
  • Reducing counseling time to speed dispensing
  • Avoiding electronic prescribing

Correct Answer: Using Tall Man lettering and separate storage

Q5. For pediatric dosing, which method is commonly used to calculate accurate doses?

  • Fixed adult dose cut in half
  • Body surface area (BSA) or mg/kg calculations
  • Age in years only
  • Weight in pounds without conversion

Correct Answer: Body surface area (BSA) or mg/kg calculations

Q6. Which practice prevents decimal point misinterpretation?

  • Using trailing zeros (e.g., 2.0 mg)
  • Using leading zeros for doses less than one (e.g., 0.5 mg)
  • Writing decimals as fractions only
  • Omitting units to avoid clutter

Correct Answer: Using leading zeros for doses less than one (e.g., 0.5 mg)

Q7. What is medication reconciliation?

  • Filling prescriptions without checking history
  • Systematic verification of all patient medications across transitions of care
  • Only checking allergies when requested
  • Counting stock in the pharmacy

Correct Answer: Systematic verification of all patient medications across transitions of care

Q8. Which of the following is a high‑risk medication that often requires independent double‑check during dispensing?

  • Vitamin C
  • Insulin
  • Paracetamol 500 mg tablet
  • Topical emollient

Correct Answer: Insulin

Q9. What is the main advantage of electronic prescribing (e‑prescribing) in preventing errors?

  • Guaranteed elimination of all errors
  • Improved legibility and clinical decision support alerts
  • Ability to bypass pharmacist review
  • Automatic substitution without checks

Correct Answer: Improved legibility and clinical decision support alerts

Q10. Which label element is critical to verify before dispensing to ensure correct patient use?

  • Pharmacy logo color
  • Dose, frequency, route, and special instructions
  • Manufacturer’s marketing tagline
  • Pharmacist initials only

Correct Answer: Dose, frequency, route, and special instructions

Q11. Which question is most important to ask a patient during counseling to prevent prescription errors?

  • Do you like the color of the tablet?
  • Are you currently taking any other medications, including OTC and herbal products?
  • Have you visited another pharmacy this week?
  • Do you prefer paper or electronic receipts?

Correct Answer: Are you currently taking any other medications, including OTC and herbal products?

Q12. What is the recommended action if a prescription lacks the drug dose?

  • Dispense a standard adult dose
  • Contact the prescriber to obtain the missing dose
  • Ask the patient to guess
  • Increase the lowest available dose

Correct Answer: Contact the prescriber to obtain the missing dose

Q13. Which intervention reduces risk from look‑alike packaging on the pharmacy shelf?

  • Storing LASA drugs together for convenience
  • Using shelf‑segregation and clear labeling
  • Removing all original boxes before shelving
  • Keeping products in the dark to hide labels

Correct Answer: Using shelf‑segregation and clear labeling

Q14. When calculating a pediatric dose of 10 mg/kg for a 12 kg child, what is the correct total dose?

  • 0.83 mg
  • 120 mg
  • 10 mg
  • 22 mg

Correct Answer: 120 mg

Q15. Which abbreviation is preferred instead of “U” for units to prevent misreading as zero or four?

  • IU
  • units
  • u.
  • UN

Correct Answer: units

Q16. A prescription states “amoxicillin 250 mg/5 mL, 15 mL twice daily for 7 days.” What is the total volume to dispense?

  • 15 mL
  • 210 mL
  • 120 mL
  • 30 mL

Correct Answer: 30 mL

Q17. Which is the best practice for handling verbal prescriptions in the pharmacy?

  • Rely on memory to save time
  • Document immediately, read back to prescriber, and confirm
  • Ask patient to confirm details later
  • Ignore verbal orders and wait for paper only

Correct Answer: Document immediately, read back to prescriber, and confirm

Q18. What is a common source of error when converting between mg and mL for liquid medications?

  • Assuming density equals 1 without checking concentration
  • Using a calibrated dosing syringe
  • Reading the concentration as mg per mL on the label
  • Double‑checking calculations

Correct Answer: Assuming density equals 1 without checking concentration

Q19. Which documentation is essential after intercepting and correcting a prescription error?

  • Only telling the patient verbally
  • Recording the intervention and notifying the prescriber in the patient record
  • Discarding the script with no record
  • Posting incident details on social media

Correct Answer: Recording the intervention and notifying the prescriber in the patient record

Q20. Which clinical decision support alert is most useful for preventing dosing errors?

  • Alert for preferred pharmacy hours
  • Weight‑based dosing and renal dose adjustments
  • Promotion of brand products
  • Notification of local weather

Correct Answer: Weight‑based dosing and renal dose adjustments

Q21. Which of the following is a safe practice when dispensing high‑alert injectable medications?

  • Prepare multiple doses for different patients at once
  • Use standardized protocols, double‑check, and minimize interruptions
  • Allow any staff to prepare without training
  • Label syringes only after administration

Correct Answer: Use standardized protocols, double‑check, and minimize interruptions

Q22. Which error type is reduced by barcode medication administration (BCMA) at the point of dispensing/administration?

  • Clinical guideline development errors
  • Wrong patient, wrong drug, and wrong dose errors
  • Prescriber licensing errors
  • Pharmacy inventory theft

Correct Answer: Wrong patient, wrong drug, and wrong dose errors

Q23. What should a pharmacist do when a prescription is for methotrexate weekly but dose frequency is not specified?

  • Dispense with daily dosing as default
  • Contact prescriber to confirm weekly administration and document
  • Advise the patient to take it when remembered
  • Change to an alternative drug without informing prescriber

Correct Answer: Contact prescriber to confirm weekly administration and document

Q24. Which practice helps prevent substitution errors when generic replacing a brand drug?

  • Never inform the patient of substitution
  • Verify bioequivalence and notify the prescriber and patient when required
  • Automatically substitute without checking strength
  • Use the cheapest available product without records

Correct Answer: Verify bioequivalence and notify the prescriber and patient when required

Q25. Which patient factor most commonly necessitates renal dose adjustment to prevent toxicity?

  • Normal hepatic function
  • Decreased creatinine clearance
  • Age under 10 years only
  • Allergic history to penicillin

Correct Answer: Decreased creatinine clearance

Q26. What is the primary reason to avoid trailing zeros (e.g., 1.0 mg) on prescriptions?

  • They improve readability
  • They may be misread as 10 mg if the decimal point is not seen
  • They are required by law
  • They prevent dosing errors

Correct Answer: They may be misread as 10 mg if the decimal point is not seen

Q27. Which element is included in a good‑practice dispensing checklist to reduce errors?

  • Verify patient identity, drug, dose, formulation, route, and expiry
  • Confirm only the price of the medication
  • Check packaging aesthetics
  • Skip verification for refills

Correct Answer: Verify patient identity, drug, dose, formulation, route, and expiry

Q28. Which action is most appropriate when a patient reports an unexpected adverse drug reaction after dispensing?

  • Ignore and continue routine dispensing
  • Assess severity, advise immediate care if needed, document, and report as required
  • Blame the patient for misuse
  • Destroy remaining medication immediately without documentation

Correct Answer: Assess severity, advise immediate care if needed, document, and report as required

Q29. Which practice reduces transcription errors when converting paper prescriptions to electronic records?

  • Transcribe from memory hours later
  • Use direct scanning or electronic prescribing integration and verify entries
  • Rely solely on pharmacy interns to transcribe without checks
  • Duplicating handwriting for clarity

Correct Answer: Use direct scanning or electronic prescribing integration and verify entries

Q30. Which counseling point is most crucial for anticoagulant prescriptions to prevent harm?

  • Take only when feeling ill
  • Maintain consistent vitamin K intake, monitor INR as advised, and report bleeding signs
  • Stop medication intermittently to prevent side effects
  • Double the dose if a dose is missed

Correct Answer: Maintain consistent vitamin K intake, monitor INR as advised, and report bleeding signs

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