Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE)
Domain 3: Patient Safety and Quality Assurance: practice questions
Our PTCE bank has 64 questions on this topic. Here are 5 of them with answers; the full mock exam draws from every topic, like the real one.
Question 1
Why is 'MS' an error-prone abbreviation?
- It can mean morphine sulfate or magnesium sulfate
- It is not English
- It means multiple sclerosis only, which can be confused with a diagnosis
- It is too long
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A. It can mean morphine sulfate or magnesium sulfate — Write the full drug name.
Question 2
Which prescription error is it if a drug meant to be taken by mouth is labelled 'for injection'?
- Wrong time error
- Wrong route error
- Wrong patient error
- Wrong quantity error
Show the answer
B. Wrong route error — Check the route against the prescription during data entry.
Question 3
A patient picks up a refill that looks different from last time. What should the technician do?
- Have the pharmacist check it and explain any manufacturer change
- Tell the patient it is the same
- Swap it for another patient's bottle
- Refuse to sell it
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A. Have the pharmacist check it and explain any manufacturer change — A different appearance may be a new generic manufacturer, or an error.
Question 4
Where should look-alike medications be stored?
- Separated from each other, with alert labels if needed
- Next to each other alphabetically, with no warnings or separation at all
- In the same bin
- Mixed together to save space
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A. Separated from each other, with alert labels if needed — Physical separation reduces selection errors.
Question 5
Which tall man lettering pair is correct?
- glipizide and glyburide
- glipiZIDE and glyBURIDE
- GLIpizide and GLYburide
- GLIPIZIDE and GLYBURIDE
Show the answer
B. glipiZIDE and glyBURIDE — Capitals highlight the different parts of the names.