Free CPSO Practice Questions

Question 1

Several nurses scan a photocopy of each patient's wristband barcode at the medication cart rather than scanning the wristband at the bedside. Interviews establish that they believe checking the patient's name makes the shortcut safe. Their supervisor has praised the resulting improvement in on-time medication administration. Under Just Culture principles, which response fits these findings?

Accepted Answer

Coach the nurses about the risk and remove incentives that reward bypassing bedside scanning.

Answer

Console the nurses for an inadvertent slip and leave the medication workflow unchanged.

Answer

Suspend the nurses for reckless conduct because they deliberately departed from the written procedure.

Answer

Require another knowledge examination before deciding whether the nurses understood the scanning procedure.

Question 2

Ten minutes into a red blood cell transfusion, a patient develops rigors, new back pain, and a blood pressure of 82/48 mm Hg, down from 128/76 mm Hg. The transfusion is still running. Which action takes priority over investigating the cause?

Accepted Answer

Stop the transfusion immediately and activate an urgent clinical response.

Answer

Repeat the patient-to-unit identification checks before deciding whether to interrupt the transfusion.

Answer

Reduce the infusion rate and repeat the vital signs before activating an emergency response.

Answer

Obtain the blood samples needed for a reaction investigation before disconnecting the blood component.

Question 3

An investigation of an enteral medication being given intravenously finds that the enteral syringe fitted the patient's IV access port. The team is selecting a permanent corrective action. Compatible replacement equipment is available, and adapters that would defeat the proposed protection will not be used. Which change would depend least on staff remembering an extra safety step?

Accepted Answer

Use enteral connectors that cannot physically mate with IV access ports.

Answer

Add route-specific warning labels to enteral syringes and provide hands-on training for all users.

Answer

Require a second clinician to trace the route before an enteral medication is administered.

Answer

Require barcode verification of the medication and prescribed route immediately before each administration.

Question 4

A child's weight in pounds is entered into a kilograms-only field. A pharmacist and two nurses independently calculate the prescribed weight-based dose, obtain the same result, and approve it. All three used the weight displayed in the electronic record. To address the failure that allowed their checks to agree, the revised process should:

Accepted Answer

Verify the recorded weight against a current measured kilogram weight before checking the dose.

Answer

Add a third independent dose calculation using the weight displayed in the electronic record.

Answer

Require an electronic calculator instead of manual arithmetic for every weight-based medication dose.

Answer

Have the prescriber cosign the dose-calculation worksheet generated from the electronic record.

Question 5

For a covered transvaginal ultrasound probe that contacts mucous membranes but does not enter sterile tissue, which Spaulding classification and minimum reprocessing requirement apply between patients? The cover appears intact, and manufacturer-compatible reprocessing methods are available.

Accepted Answer

Semicritical: clean the probe, then perform high-level disinfection.

Answer

Noncritical: clean the probe, then perform low-level disinfection.

Answer

Critical: clean the probe, then perform sterilization.

Answer

Semicritical: clean the probe, then apply a new disposable cover.

Question 6

Last month: 10 inpatient falls in 2,000 patient-days. This month: 12 falls affecting 9 patients in 3,000 patient-days. Event definitions are unchanged. Select this month's event rate per 1,000 patient-days and its relative change from last month.

Accepted Answer

The rate is 4 per 1,000 patient-days, a 20% decrease.

Answer

The rate is 6 per 1,000 patient-days, a 20% increase.

Answer

The rate is 3 per 1,000 patient-days, a 40% decrease.

Answer

The rate is 4 per 1,000 patient-days, a 20% increase.

Question 7

An insulin dosing error reaches an inpatient. Extra glucose checks are required, but monitoring throughout the period of risk finds no hypoglycemia or other harm. No corrective treatment or additional hospital stay is needed. The NCC MERP classification is:

Accepted Answer

Category D

Answer

Category C

Answer

Category E

Answer

Category F

Question 8

Six weeks after a CT identified a suspicious lung mass requiring prompt evaluation, a patient has had no follow-up. The report was correct and reached both the ordering clinician and the patient portal promptly. No clinician discussed the finding with the patient or assigned follow-up. At review, the team debates whether an accurate report rules out diagnostic error. Which conclusion is justified?

Accepted Answer

This is a diagnostic-process failure: correct interpretation did not lead to timely communication and follow-up.

Answer

This is only a treatment delay: diagnostic responsibility ended when the correct CT report was issued.

Answer

This is patient nonadherence: posting the result transferred responsibility for follow-up to the patient.

Answer

This is not a diagnostic error unless the delay is shown to have changed the patient's eventual outcome.

Question 9

During a failure mode and effects analysis, an infrequent failure capable of causing death receives a lower risk priority number than several frequent failures causing temporary injury. The team proposes excluding it from corrective action solely because it falls below the chosen RPN cutoff. The ratings are supported by the available evidence, and a feasible targeted safeguard exists. What should the safety officer recommend?

Accepted Answer

Consider the fatal consequence and available safeguard separately from the aggregate RPN ranking.

Answer

Retain the cutoff so that each failure receives the same numerical treatment during prioritization.

Answer

Increase the occurrence rating until the potentially fatal failure qualifies for corrective action.

Answer

Discard occurrence and detection ratings and prioritize every remaining failure by severity alone.

Question 10

A response leader hands technical troubleshooting of a faulty ventilator to the respiratory therapist most familiar with that model, while retaining clinical oversight. This allocation of decision-making authority demonstrates:

Accepted Answer

Deference to expertise

Answer

Preoccupation with failure

Answer

Sensitivity to operations

Answer

Commitment to resilience

Free CPSO Practice Questions

Domain 1: Patient Safety Fundamentals 36% of exam

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Domain 2: Patient Safety Hazards & Risks 28% of exam

Question 5

Question 6

Question 7

Domain 3: Patient Safety Compliance 36% of exam

Question 8

Question 9

Question 10

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