Question

1. Which is an accurate statement about recent estimates regarding medical error prevalence?
A. One in 30 patients is exposed to preventable harm in medical care.
B. More than 150,000 people die in hospitals each year because of medication errors.
C. Medication errors are much less common in healthcare than previously thought.
D. The cost of medication errors is less than $2 million.

2. Which statement regarding medication errors is true?
A. Medication errors only occur while a medication is in the control of a healthcare professional.
B. Medication errors can occur at any stage of the medication-use process.
C. Medication errors are made most often during medication receiving and storage.
D. A single individual or event usually causes medication errors.

3. Which pair of statements regarding root cause analysis (RCA) and failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is true?
A. RCA is a proactive approach to risk reduction, and FMEA is a reactive approach to risk reduction.
B. RCA identifies sources of potential failure, and FMEA identifies where processes have failed in the past.
C. RCA is conducted after an error occurs, and FMEA can be conducted before a process is implemented.
D. RCA is a quantitative assessment of an error's severity, likelihood, and detectability, and FMEA is a qualitative assessment of latent system weaknesses.

4. Which strategy strengthens the findings and recommendations of a root cause analysis?
A. Implementing additional education for healthcare professionals involved in an error
B. Gathering knowledge only from the individuals directly involved in a safety-related incident
C. Creating an environment where error reporting is discouraged
D. Supporting workplace transparency and learning across the organization

5. Which of the following FMEA steps are listed in the correct order?
A. Assemble an appropriate team, define a topic, develop a process map
B. Define a topic, assemble an appropriate team, develop a process map
C. Define a topic, conduct a risk analysis for each process and subprocess, create a process map
D. Conduct a risk analysis, create a process map, define a topic

6. Which of the following processes would be identified as most in need of change based on an FMEA risk priority number?
A. A process with a likelihood rank of 2, a severity rank of 6, and a detectability rank of 3
B. A process with a likelihood rank of 5, a severity rank of 4, and a detectability rank of 1
C. A process with a likelihood rank of 9, a severity rank of 5, and a detectability rank of 2
D. A process with a likelihood rank of 8, a severity rank of 2, and a detectability rank of 4

7. Which outcome results from a multidisciplinary approach to healthcare and patient safety?
A. Expanded patient safety training in professional education
B. Decreased adverse events
C. Reduced medication use
D. Lost productivity in the healthcare system

8. Which statement regarding the benefits of drawing from a multidisciplinary team to complete patient safety evaluations is FALSE?
A. Medication errors can occur throughout the medication-use process, making the involvement of multidisciplinary team members useful in conducting RCA and FMEA.
B. It is useful to have input from healthcare professionals removed from an incident being investigated.
C. Outcomes of the multidisciplinary team approach to patient safety can lead to enhanced communication and patient safety.
D. Different teams conducting FMEA may assess failures differently, leading to more comprehensive recommendations for action.

9. Which is a common cause of medication errors?
A. Using tall-man lettering for look-alike, sound-alike products
B. Storing high-risk medications separately from standard drug stock
C. Allowing patients to review their medical records
D. Using abbreviations to communicate instructions for medication use

10. Which strategy has NOT been shown to reduce medication error rates?
A. Barcode-assisted medication administration
B. False-positive safety alerts
C. Computerized order entry
D. Automated dispensing solutions

Answer 1

1. A
2. B
3. C
4. D
5. B
6. C
7. B
8. D
9. D
10. B

Brief rationale (optional):
- 1: Recent estimates cite about 1 in 30 patients exposed to preventable harm.
- 2: Errors can occur at any stage (prescribing, transcribing, dispensing, administering, monitoring).
- 3: RCA is reactive (after an event); FMEA is proactive (before implementation).
- 4: Transparency and organization-wide learning strengthen RCA findings.
- 5: FMEA sequence: define topic → assemble team → map process → identify failure modes → analyze risk.
- 6: RPN = likelihood × severity × detectability; option C yields the highest product (9×5×2 = 90).
- 7: Multidisciplinary approaches reduce adverse events.
- 8: Different teams assessing FMEA may produce variable (not necessarily more comprehensive) results, so D is false as written.
- 9: Use of ambiguous abbreviations is a common cause of medication errors.
- 10: False-positive safety alerts (alert fatigue) have not been shown to reduce error rates.