Nutrition Support Pharmacy Sample Examination Items

These sample examination items are made available by BPS for the purposes of familiarizing certification candidates and other stakeholders with the structure and format of BPS certification examinations. This is not meant for use as a self-assessment. Performance on any of these items does not correlate with performance on the actual examination.

The content of these examples is meant to be illustrative of actual examination items, but these items do not appear on the certification examination and are not meant to identify the scope of the examination. For a more comprehensive indication of the scope of each certification examination, please refer to the Exam Content Outline for each specialty area.

Examination items are in multiple-choice format. The great majority of examination items are multiple-choice with a single response from among four options. Some examinations may include a small percentage of items that require selection of multiple (three or four) responses from among a larger set of available (up to eight) options. Examinations items may also be supplemented by an image.

Which electrolyte abnormality is most likely to be observed in patients receiving continuous renal replacement therapy?

Hyperkalemia
Hypermagnesemia
Hyponatremia
Hypophosphatemia

Correct!

Incorrect!

A 30-year-old transplant patient develops a serum potassium of 5.8 mEq/L. The patient's medication regimen includes the following:

Tacrolimus 1 mg orally twice daily
Prednisone 20 mg orally twice daily
Hydrochlorothiazide 25 mg orally daily
Insulin glargine 10 units subcutaneously at bedtime
Levofloxacin 500 mg orally daily
Fluconazole 200 mg orally daily

Which medication is the most likely cause of this patient's hyperkalemia?
Hydrochlorothiazide
Insulin glargine
Prednisone
Tacrolimus

Correct!

Incorrect!

Alopecia, delayed wound healing, and fatty liver may indicate a deficiency in:

calcium.
dextrose.
lipid emulsion.
magnesium.

Correct!

Incorrect!

What are the Medicare Part B standard criteria for macronutrient requirements for parenteral nutrition?

Total 20-30 kcal/kg daily; protein 1.0 - 2.0 g/kg daily
Total 20-35 kcal/kg daily; protein 0.8 - 1.5 g/kg daily
Total 20-35 kcal/kg daily; protein 1.0 - 2.0 g/kg daily
Total 20-40 kcal/kg daily; protein 0.8 - 1.5 g/kg daily

Correct!

Incorrect!

What is the current recommendation for daily vitamin D supplementation to prevent rickets and vitamin D deficiency in healthy, breastfed infants?

200 IU
400 IU
600 IU
800 IU

Correct!

Incorrect!

Which intervention may decrease catheter-associated bloodstream infections in pediatric patients with parenteral nutrition-associated liver disease?

Antibiotic ointment at insertion site
Cyclic TPN
Ethanol lock therapy
Lipids < 1 g/kg/day

Correct!

Incorrect!

A patient with Crohn disease has been hospitalized for management of a small bowel obstruction. The patient's past medical history is significant for Crohn disease. The patient developed a fever on day 6 of parenteral nutrition. Two sets of blood cultures were drawn, one peripheral and one via the patient's peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC), and both grew gram-positive cocci. A transthoracic echocardiogram was performed and was negative. The final culture report indicated the pathogen was methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Which course of continued treatment is recommended for this patient?

Remove the PICC and continue vancomycin for 7 days.
Remove the PICC and continue vancomycin for 14 days.
Retain the PICC, and continue vancomycin for 14 days.
Retain the PICC, and continue vancomycin for 28 days.

Correct!

Incorrect!

Batch-prepared sterile products without preservatives are considered:

low risk.
low-medium risk.
medium risk.
medium-high risk.

Correct!

Incorrect!

Which total nutrient admixture would be considered the most unstable?

Dextrose 10%, amino acids 3%, lipids 1.5%
Dextrose 10%, amino acids 4%, lipids 2.0%
Dextrose 15%, amino acids 5%, lipids 2.5%
Dextrose 20%, amino acids 6%, lipids 3.0%

Correct!

Incorrect!

A study is designed to compare presence versus absence of pressure sores among patients receiving diet, patients receiving tube feeds, and patients receiving parenteral nutrition. Which is the appropriate statistical test to use for analysis of the data?

t test
Chi-square test
Kruskal-Wallis test
Mann-Whitney U test

Correct!

Incorrect!

Share the quiz to show your results !

Subscribe to see your results

Nutrition Support Pharmacy Sample Questions

I got %%score%% of %%total%% right

%%description%%

%%description%%

Loading...

BPS Logo
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognizing you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Click here to review the BPS Privacy Statement.