Free CSPT Exam Flashcards

75 multiple-choice questions: 60 scored and 15 unscored. Time limit is 1 hour 50 minutes. Passing score is 1,400 on a 1,000-1,600 scaled score range.

Sterile Compounding Procedures is the largest domain at 53%. It includes aseptic technique, garbing, hand hygiene, cleaning, hazardous compounding, calculations, media fills, and documentation.

Candidates must hold an active PTCB CPhT credential in good standing before qualifying through a sterile compounding education or experience pathway.

PTCB-recognized sterile compounding education or training plus 1 year of full-time compounded sterile preparation work experience.

3 years of full-time compounded sterile preparation work experience within the past 8 years. Full-time means at least 30 hours per week in CSP work.

CSPT recertification is annual and requires 10 compounding-specific CE hours plus a competency attestation signed by a qualified supervisor.

USP <797> is the sterile compounding standard: cleanroom controls, aseptic technique, personnel competency, environmental monitoring, BUD logic, and quality assurance.

USP <800> addresses hazardous drugs in healthcare settings, including receipt, storage, compounding, transport, administration, spill response, and disposal controls.

Maintain sterility of critical sites and prevent microbial contamination of the final compounded sterile preparation.

Any exposed sterile surface or opening that can contact the CSP, such as needle tips, syringe tips, vial stoppers after disinfection, ampule necks, and IV ports.

HEPA-filtered air that reaches a critical site before passing over hands, supplies, containers, or other nonsterile objects.

Perform sterile manipulations in the direct compounding area, typically at least 6 inches inside the PEC, where unidirectional ISO Class 5 airflow protects critical sites.

Shoe covers, hair and beard cover, mask or face shield, gown, hand hygiene, then sterile gloves. The goal is to cover shedding sources before gloving.

Wash with soap and water, dry thoroughly, use alcohol-based hand rub, and let hands dry before sterile gloves. Gloves do not replace hand hygiene.

Artificial nails, nail polish, rings, watches, and bracelets are contamination risks and can damage gloves. Natural nails should be short and clean.

Stop work, remove the compromised glove, perform hand hygiene as required, re-glove, and evaluate the preparation for possible contamination under facility policy.

Disinfect the neck, break away from the face and body with protection for the hands, then inspect for glass particles before withdrawing contents.

Inject diluent slowly down the vial wall, manage pressure, and avoid forceful spraying. This reduces foaming, aerosol generation, and spray-back.

They are single-use sterile devices. Reuse risks contamination, dull tips, particulates, and needlestick injury; discard sharps immediately in approved containers.

Sterile ingredients and sterile devices, simple aseptic transfers, and ISO Class 5 conditions. No nonsterile components or complex pooling steps.

More complex sterile manipulations, such as pooling multiple containers, preparing TPN, or filling device reservoirs with several sterile components.

Nonsterile ingredients or devices, terminal sterilization needs, or exposure of sterile ingredients to air worse than ISO Class 5 for too long.

Beyond-use dating depends on microbial risk, chemical stability, storage conditions, container compatibility, and available stability data. Cost is not a BUD factor.

Use for dilutions: concentration stock times volume stock equals concentration final times volume final. Solve for the unknown before measuring.

A percent weight/volume solution means grams per 100 mL. Example: 10% dextrose contains 10 g per 100 mL.

1 mg equals 1,000 mcg. Convert units before dose or infusion-rate calculations to prevent decimal-place errors.

Divide pounds by 2.2 to get kilograms. Weight-based sterile compounding calculations should use kilograms.

About 275-295 mOsm/L. Solutions far above this range are hypertonic and may require route or administration review.

A primary engineering control creates ISO Class 5 air at the direct compounding area so critical sites stay protected during sterile manipulation.

Laminar airflow workbenches protect the product, not the worker. They are not appropriate for hazardous drug compounding.

A Class II biological safety cabinet provides product, personnel, and environmental protection, making it appropriate for hazardous sterile compounding when properly certified.

A CAI supports nonhazardous sterile compounding in an enclosed ISO Class 5 environment. A CACI adds containment for hazardous drug compounding.

HEPA filtration removes at least 99.97% of particles 0.3 micrometers and larger, supporting clean airflow to the compounding area.

Lower ISO numbers mean cleaner air. ISO 5 is cleaner than ISO 7, and ISO 7 is cleaner than ISO 8.

The buffer room houses the PEC and supports the ISO Class 5 compounding area, commonly with ISO Class 7 background air.

The anteroom is the transition space for hand hygiene, garbing, and staging materials before entering the buffer area.

Nonhazardous buffer areas use positive pressure to keep contaminants out. Hazardous drug rooms use negative pressure to contain hazardous contamination.

Primary engineering controls are certified at least every 6 months and after relocation, repair, maintenance, or filter replacement.

Use overlapping strokes from the cleanest/furthest area toward the operator; in vertical flow hoods, clean top to bottom. Do not spray the HEPA filter.

Sterile 70% isopropyl alcohol is useful for routine disinfection but is not sporicidal. Sporicidal agents are needed when spores are the target.

Medications such as insulin, heparin, and concentrated electrolytes require extra safeguards because errors can cause serious patient harm.

Narrow therapeutic index drugs have little margin between effective and toxic concentrations, so calculations, measurements, and checks must be precise.

Look for visible changes such as cloudiness, haze, crystals, precipitation, color change, or gas formation. Reject and investigate questionable CSPs.

Drug degradation or inactivation may occur without visible change, so use compatibility references and approved formulations rather than visual inspection alone.

These routes contact the central nervous system area and require preservative-free formulations, strict sterility, and very tight endotoxin control.

Calcium and phosphate can form insoluble precipitate. Use compatibility guidance, proper order of addition, solubility limits, and final visual inspection.

Use chemotherapy-tested powder-free gloves, often double-gloving, plus protective gown and eye/face or respiratory protection when risk warrants.

A closed-system drug-transfer device reduces escape of hazardous drug or vapor and entry of contaminants. It supplements, not replaces, PPE and containment PECs.

Alert others, don appropriate PPE, contain the area, and use the chemotherapy spill kit according to facility procedure. Avoid spreading contamination.

Check correct label, container integrity, clarity, color, no leaks, no precipitate, no visible particles, and appropriate storage conditions before release.