Dependency & Rights
The ethical and legal prerogative of a healthcare professional to decline filling a prescription based on moral beliefs or safety concerns.
What is the Right of Refusal?
The practice of writing part of a drug's name in upper case to help distinguish look-alike, sound-alike (LASA) drugs (e.g., glipiZIDE vs. glybuRIDE).
What is Tall Man Lettering?
A specific type of medication error where the patient receives a quantity of medication that differs from what was prescribed.
What is a Wrong Amount Error?
Groups designed to collect and analyze error data from multiple providers and offer quality improvement counsel.
What is Patient and Safety Organization?
When the technician and/or pharmacist starts to have a relaxed attitude and bypasses drug utilization warnings.
What is a alert fatigue?
A physiological state where the body has adapted to a drug, resulting in withdrawal symptoms if the drug is stopped abruptly.
What is Physical Dependence?
The national early warning system co-managed by the CDC and FDA to monitor the safety of vaccines after they are licensed.
What is VAERS?
An error that occurs when a staff member works too quickly, often due to heavy workload or pressure, leading to skipped safety checks.
What is a Rushed Error?
An organization providing assistance and treatment for impaired colleagues without the risk of losing their license.
What is a Pharmacist Recovery Network (PRN)?
A patient addicted to drugs who may receive similar controlled prescriptions from several physicians/pharmacies.
What is a drug seeker?
An emotional or mental compulsion to take a drug to experience its effects or avoid discomfort, without necessarily having a physical adaptation.
What is Psychological Dependence?
A patient safety campaign that encourages patients to take an active role in their own care by asking questions and voicing concerns.
What is SPEAK UP?
An error that occurs during the "pick" phase of dispensing, where the wrong strength or package is pulled from the shelf despite the label being correct.
What is a Selection Error?
An acronym used to train staff on what to do in the case of a pharmacy robbery.
What is a REACT?
When the body adapts to a drug so that higher doses are needed to produce the same pharmacological effect.
What is a drug tolerance?
A confidential program designed to help pharmacy professionals struggling with substance abuse or mental health issues return to safe practice.
What is the Pharmacist Recovery Network (PRN)?
A national reporting program specifically for healthcare providers to report vaccine-related errors (not just reactions) to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP).
What is VERP?
A mistake caused by the breakdown or malfunctioning of equipment, such as a pharmacy robot, computer software, or an automated dispensing cabinet.
What is a Technical Failure?
The ability of a pharmacist to decline with cause to fill any prescription, especially for controlled substances.
What is a right of refusal?
Failure to take medication therapy as the physician instructs (also called nonadherence).
What is a medication noncompliance?
An acronym used as a protocol for pharmacy staff to handle a robbery or violent situation safely (Remain calm, Eye contact, Activate alarm, Call police, Take notes).
What is REACT?
A mandatory FDA program for high-risk drugs that requires extra safety measures, such as provider training or patient registries, to ensure the benefits outweigh the risks.
What is REMS?
A retrospective process used after a major error to identify the underlying "system" flaws rather than just blaming an individual.
What is a Root-Cause Analysis?
A systematic process used to identify what, how, and why something happened to prevent recurrence.
What is a root-cause analysis?
Taking a drug continuously so that when the medication is stopped, physical withdrawal symptoms occur.
What is a physical dependence?