PTCE - Patient Safety and Quality Assurance (23.75% of the exam) - Section 3.6

Apply infection prevention procedures and cleaning standards, including handwashing, PPE use, and cleaning of counting trays, countertops, and equipment.

Apply infection prevention procedures including correct handwashing technique, personal protective equipment selection, and cleaning standards for counting trays and compounding surfaces. Distinguish USP 795 and USP 797 environmental cleaning requirements for non-sterile and sterile compounding environments.

Personal protective equipmentHandwashing techniqueSterile compounding cleaningUSP 795 / USP 797

Practice question for this objective

Free samplePatient Safety and Quality Assuranceeasy

A technician is comparing the scope of two United States Pharmacopeia chapters that pharmacies follow. The technician wants to state correctly which chapter primarily governs non-sterile compounding standards. Which statement is true about the focus of these chapters?

AUSP 795 sets standards for sterile compounding, while USP 797 sets standards for non-sterile compounding.
BUSP 795 sets standards for non-sterile compounding, while USP 797 sets standards for sterile compounding. Correct
CBoth USP 795 and USP 797 apply only to the cleaning of retail countertops and counting trays.
DNeither USP 795 nor USP 797 addresses cleaning, since both deal solely with drug pricing.

Distinguish USP 795 as the non-sterile compounding standard from USP 797 as the sterile compounding standard. USP General Chapter 795 establishes quality standards for non-sterile compounded preparations, whereas USP General Chapter 797 addresses sterile compounding, including the environmental and cleaning controls needed to keep those preparations sterile.

Why A is wrong: This reverses the two chapters, a common mix-up, because it is 797 that addresses sterile work and 795 that addresses non-sterile work.

Why B is correct: This correctly matches each chapter to its scope, with 795 covering non-sterile preparations and 797 covering sterile preparations and their cleanliness controls.

Why C is wrong: This is tempting given the cleaning theme, but the chapters govern compounding standards broadly rather than being limited to retail counter surfaces.

Why D is wrong: Pricing falls outside these chapters entirely, so attributing them to cost rules misidentifies their purpose, which is compounding quality including cleanliness.

See more PTCE practice questions, answers explained.

Exam traps in Patient Safety and Quality Assurance

Answers that look right on this material and are not. Each one is a distractor from a different question in the PTCE bank for this domain.

It replaces the need for hand hygiene because the gloves keep the hands fully clean throughout a task.
Why it is wrong: This is tempting because gloves cover the hands, but PPE supplements rather than replaces hand hygiene, and hands must still be washed before and after glove use.
Cleaning the tray prevents the wooden surface from warping when it is exposed to humidity.
Why it is wrong: This is tempting because surface care matters for equipment, but the recognised reason for wiping trays is cross-contamination control, not protecting against warping.
Sterile gloves, so that her hands are protected before touching any other garb.
Why it is wrong: Sterile gloves are donned last, after hand hygiene inside the buffer area, because putting them on first would contaminate them while handling the remaining dirtier garb.

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