Phlebotomy Safety & Compliance Practice Questions
Safety & Compliance makes up 13 of every 50 questions on a Tigertest Phlebotomy practice test. Here are 10 of the 52 questions on it, each with the answer and the reason.
Updated by the Tigertest team. Weighted to the NHA CPT test plan. Order of draw and technique follow CLSI GP41 and GP42.
1. A phlebotomist asks which federal agency enforces the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard that requires employers to protect workers from blood exposure. Which agency is it?
- A.Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- B.Occupational Safety and Health Administration
- C.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- D.Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI)
Answer: B. OSHA enforces workplace safety law, including the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard (29 CFR 1910.1030). The CDC publishes infection control guidelines but does not enforce workplace regulations.
2. A laboratory manager wants the consensus document that details venipuncture technique and the order of draw. Which organization publishes it?
- A.The Joint Commission
- B.NIOSH
- C.OSHA
- D.CLSI
Answer: D. CLSI writes voluntary consensus laboratory standards such as GP41 for venipuncture, which defines the order of draw. The Joint Commission accredits facilities but does not write venipuncture technique standards.
3. Which federal regulations set quality standards for every laboratory testing human specimens, including sites that perform only waived tests?
- A.Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)
- B.Patient's Bill of Rights
- C.Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
- D.OSHA Hazard Communication Standard
Answer: A. CLIA, administered by CMS, regulates all clinical laboratory testing and requires even waived sites to hold a certificate. HIPAA protects health information privacy, not testing quality.
4. A hospital surveyor checks whether phlebotomists use two patient identifiers, as required by the National Patient Safety Goals. Which organization publishes these goals?
- A.Food and Drug Administration
- B.National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
- C.The Joint Commission
- D.College of American Pathologists
Answer: C. The Joint Commission accredits hospitals and publishes the National Patient Safety Goals, which include using two identifiers and reporting critical results promptly. CAP accredits laboratories but does not issue these goals.
5. A manufacturer must obtain federal clearance before selling a new evacuated tube and safety needle system. Which agency regulates these medical devices?
- A.CLSI
- B.CDC
- C.FDA
- D.OSHA
Answer: C. The FDA regulates medical devices, including blood collection tubes, needles and glucose meters, and categorizes test complexity under CLIA. OSHA requires employers to use safety devices but does not clear them for sale.
6. A reference laboratory is accredited through peer inspections and enrolls in the same organization's proficiency testing program. Which organization is this most likely?
- A.College of American Pathologists (CAP)
- B.National Fire Protection Association
- C.Food and Drug Administration
- D.Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Answer: A. CAP accredits laboratories through peer inspection and runs widely used proficiency testing surveys. The FDA regulates devices and does not accredit laboratories.
7. Which agency researches workplace hazards such as needlestick injuries and certifies N95 respirators but does not enforce workplace regulations?
- A.The Joint Commission
- B.OSHA
- C.CMS
- D.NIOSH
Answer: D. NIOSH, part of the CDC, conducts research, makes safety recommendations and certifies respirators. OSHA is the agency that enforces workplace rules.
8. A phlebotomy supervisor is revising the facility's hand hygiene and isolation precaution policies. Whose guidelines should the policies be based on?
- A.Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
- B.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- C.Food and Drug Administration
- D.Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute
Answer: B. The CDC issues the national guidelines for hand hygiene, standard precautions and transmission-based isolation. CLSI writes laboratory procedure standards, not isolation guidelines.
9. A coworker from billing, who has no role in a celebrity patient's care, asks a phlebotomist what the patient's lab results showed. Best response?
- A.Tell her where to find the results herself
- B.Decline, because she has no need to know
- C.Share the results, since she is an employee
- D.Share only the abnormal results
Answer: B. HIPAA limits access to protected health information to staff who need it for their job. Being an employee of the same facility does not create a need to know.
10. A patient's husband calls the laboratory asking for his wife's pregnancy test result. No authorization is on file. The phlebotomist should:
- A.Give the result after he correctly states her birth date
- B.Mail the result to their shared home address
- C.Give the result, since he is her spouse
- D.Decline and refer him to the patient or provider
Answer: D. Without the patient's authorization, results go only to the patient and authorized providers. Being a spouse, or knowing her birth date, does not authorize release.
Practice all 52 safety & compliance questions, and the rest of the 200-question bank, in the free Phlebotomy training sets. Questions you miss come back until you have mastered them.
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