Pharmacy AI · Module 3 · Unit 3 · Practical 3

High-Alert Medicines Safety Round

Aim — To work a six-bed ward under time pressure, identify where a high-alert medicine meets a high-risk patient, recognise the specific hazard, and apply the correct risk-reduction control before harm reaches the patient.

Your round

You are the ward pharmacist on Medical Unit 5. Six patients, and you have 15 minutes before the consultant round starts. You cannot study every chart in depth — deciding where to look is part of the job.

  1. A medicine is high-alert because the consequence of an error is severe, not because errors are common. Insulin, anticoagulants, opioids and concentrated electrolytes head the list.
  2. A patient is high-risk because of age, renal or hepatic function, cognition, or the number of medicines they take.
  3. The danger is at the intersection. A high-alert medicine in a low-risk patient is usually manageable; the same medicine in a frail elderly patient with an eGFR of 22 is not.
  4. Charts are closed until you open them. What you open is recorded, and deciding without looking is marked.
  5. Two of the six beds carry an immediate hazard. If the round ends before you have found and acted on them, the harm happens.

Controls are ranked. Redesigning the hazard away beats a warning label, and a warning label beats asking staff to be careful.

Assessment rubric

Assessment criteriaMarks
Triage — reviewing the beds that actually carried risk15
Hazard identification (6 beds × 5)30
Risk-reduction control chosen (6 beds × 5)30
Investigation — chart opened before deciding15
Independent double check performed correctly10
Total100

Pass 50. The Patient Safety Index is reported separately.

Achievement badges

🎯 Hazard Spotter🛡 Zero Harm 🔍 Thorough⚙ Strong Controls🏅 Safety Lead

Start the round

Alizon Teaching Hospital · Medical Unit 5 · six beds · 15 minutes to the consultant round

Round report & patient outcomes

Complete the round to generate your report, then write and submit it below.