PEBC (Patient Care) Sample Questions
Categories: PEBC Canada
Ques. RY is an 85 year old male who lives alone and currently takes 12 different medications. For the past two weeks he has telephoned to ask the pharmacist what dose of diuretic he should be taking (this medication looks similar to another tablet that he takes). He calls again today with the same question. After answering his question, the most appropriate pharmacist action should be to:
a. call RY's family doctor to suggest changing the diuretic to something that looks different.
b. suggest that RY have the labels on his prescription bottles changed to a bigger font for easier reading.
c. recommend that the pharmacy use a blister packaging dosette to dispense RY's medications.
d. suggest that RY write down the answer to his question so that he does not need to phone again.
Ques. JQ is a 67 year old male with type 2 diabetes that is controlled with insulin. Today, JQ's wife calls the pharmacist to inquire what to do regarding JQ's very low blood glucose reading (2.8 mmol/L). She also notes that he seems to be confused. JQ's wife should be instructed to:
a. take JQ immediately to the nearest Emergency Department.
b. have JQ eat a carbohydrate-rich meal and retest in one hour.
c. give JQ a 15-20 gram glucose supplement and retest in 15 minutes.
d. retest JQ's blood glucose level in one hour and phone back if it remains low.
Ques. RF is an 80 year old female who developed CDAD (Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea) after recent treatment of a urinary tract infection with ciprofloxacin. She is admitted to hospital with severe symptoms including profound diarrhea (eight watery bowel movements per day), severe abdominal pain, fever (39°C), and confusion. Based on her symptoms, which of the following is the most appropriate therapy choice for her?
a. Oral fidaxomicin
b. Oral metronidazole plus intravenous vancomycin
c. Oral cholestyramine
d. Oral vancomycin plus intravenous metronidazole
Ques. CC, a 72 year old female, complains to the pharmacist that her stomach has been bothering her recently. Current medications include: levothyroxine 100 mcg po daily (x 30 years), acetaminophen 500 mg po qid (x 5 months), atorvastatin 40 mg po at bedtime (x 4 years), ibuprofen 400 mg po tid prn for joint pain (x 2 months) and zopiclone 3.75 mg po at bedtime prn (x 3 months). Which of the following drug therapy problems is most likely contributing to CC's recent symptoms?
a. Too high a dosage of atorvastatin
b. Too high a dosage of zopiclone
c. Use of ibuprofen without gastroprotection
d. Drug interaction between atorvastatin and zopiclone
Ques. AM has been taking bupropion XL 300 mg po daily for four months for the treatment of depression and reports to the pharmacist that he is not experiencing any improvement in his symptoms. After the pharmacist consults with the prescriber, it is decided to change his medication to citalopram 20 mg po daily. Which of the following is the recommended method for making this switch in antidepressant therapy?
a. Stop bupropion and start citalopram 20 mg daily the next day
b. Stop bupropion and wait seven days before starting citalopram 20 mg daily
c. Taper bupropion over seven days and then start citalopram 20 mg daily
d. Start citalopram 20 mg daily and then taper bupropion dose over seven days
Ques. The pharmacist fills a prescription for sumatriptan 100 mg tablets for a patient with migraine. Appropriate information to provide to the patient includes which of the following?
a. If the sumatriptan does not relieve the headache within four hours, ergotamine may be used.
b. If no relief is achieved in two hours, a dose of 200 mg should be taken.
c. If the headache returns, a dose of 100 mg can be repeated two hours after the first dose.
d. The maximum dosage of sumatriptan 100 mg in any 24-hour period is six tablets.
Ques. JG has been taking metoclopramide 10 mg po q6h for the past three days as part of her chemotherapy regimen. She normally takes four doses daily, 30 minutes prior to meals and at bedtime. This morning, she forgot to take her morning dose before leaving home for a hospital check-up. When she arrives at the clinic, she asks the pharmacist what she should do about her missed dose, as she expects to be home again around 11:00 am. The pharmacist should advise JG to:
a. take the missed dose immediately when she gets home and continue as scheduled.
b. take two doses at lunchtime to make up for the missed dose.
c. skip the missed dose and take the next scheduled dose at lunchtime.
d. space four doses into the remaining hours between when JG gets home and her bedtime.