PTCE domain - 22.5% of the exam

Order Entry and Processing

Order Entry and Processing is 22.5% of the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE) (PTCE) exam. These are the objectives it covers, each with practice questions and worked explanations.

Objectives in this domain

Sample question from this domain

Free sampleOrder Entry and Processinghard

A technician at Birchwood Pharmacy receives a prescription for Lerato Mokoena: latanoprost 0.005% ophthalmic solution, one drop into each eye every evening, dispensed as a single 2.5 mL bottle. Using the standard estimate that an ophthalmic dropper delivers about 20 drops per millilitre, what days supply should the technician enter for this dispense?

  • AAbout 50 days, treating each bottle as delivering one drop per day total.
  • BAbout 25 days, based on two drops used each day from roughly 50 drops in the bottle. Correct
  • CAbout 12 days, counting four drops into each eye every evening.
  • DAbout 30 days, rounding the bottle to a convenient monthly figure.
Calculate ophthalmic days supply by converting bottle volume to drops and dividing by the total daily drops across all dosed eyes. Days supply for drops equals total drops in the container divided by drops used per day. A 2.5 mL bottle at 20 drops per mL holds about 50 drops, and dosing one drop into each of two eyes once daily uses two drops per day, giving 50 divided by 2, or about 25 days.

Why A is wrong: This counts only one drop daily and ignores that both eyes are dosed, so it doubles the true supply by halving the daily drop count.

Why B is correct: The 2.5 mL bottle yields about 50 drops, and one drop per eye each evening is two drops per day, so 50 divided by 2 gives roughly 25 days.

Why C is wrong: This misreads the directions as four drops per eye; the sig states one drop per eye, so it overstates daily use and understates the supply.

Why D is wrong: Rounding to a calendar month ignores the actual drop maths; 30 days would require fewer than two drops daily, which the sig does not support.

Other domains in this exam

See also the PTCE cert hub, the study guide, and the cheat sheet.

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