Academic Catalog

PHT 52B: ASEPTIC TECHNIQUE & IV PREPARATION

Foothill College Course Outline of Record

Foothill College Course Outline of Record
Heading Value
Effective Term: Fall 2026
Units: 4
Hours: 3 lecture, 3 laboratory per week (72 total per quarter)
Prerequisite: PHT 52A.
Degree & Credit Status: Degree-Applicable Credit Course
Foothill GE: Non-GE
Transferable: CSU
Grade Type: Letter Grade Only
Repeatability: Not Repeatable

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Describe factors affecting the survival of bacteria, the main components of the infection cycle and explain various methods of preventing the spread of micro-organisms and contaminants.
  • Prepare sterile compounds proficiently, demonstrating full compliance with aseptic compounding principles, techniques, precautions, and regulatory guidelines.

Description

This course provides technician-focused instruction and training for the successful production of sterile parenteral preparations, a major responsibility of the pharmacy technician in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and home healthcare. This important work requires the mastery of aseptic technique: the procedures that avoid introducing pathogens into sterile products, ensure patient safety, and maintain product consistency. Intended for students in the Advanced-Level Pharmacy Technician Program; enrollment is limited to students accepted in the program.

Course Objectives

The student will be able to:

  1. Identify the ethical and legal obligations of sterile compounding personnel, including training and assessment requirements.
  2. Identify supply items used in sterile compounding and describe appropriate technique to maintain the sterility of their critical sites.
  3. Perform the calculations required for dosage determination and solution preparation.
  4. Utilize various documentation in quality assurance, including process validation testing and identifying risk levels associated with compounded sterile products.
  5. Identify common pharmaceuticals that are administered parenterally and describe the characteristics, stability, incompatibilities, and patient complications of sterile compounded parenterals.
  6. Perform sterile compounding procedures to prepare various vial-based and ampule-based large-volume and small-volume parenteral preparations.
  7. Prepare specialty admixtures, such as narcotic preparations and pediatric compounded sterile products.
  8. Display appropriate technique in the compounding of a TPN (total parenteral nutrition) preparation.
  9. Identify common chemotherapy agents, their uses, and procedures for handling hazardous compounded sterile product materials (chemotherapy).
  10. Perform required industry requirement standards with aseptic technique during process validation testing for compounding a variety of sterile products.

Course Content

  1. Sterile compounding as a pharmacy technician
    1. Roles and responsibilities of IV (intravenous) technicians
    2. Effects of aseptic technique on patient health and safety
      1. Patient complications related to compounding of sterile products
    3. The United States Pharmacopeia (USP)
      1. USP 797
    4. Training and testing requirements
    5. Process validation
    6. Quality assurance
  2. Sterile compounding supplies
    1. Correcting opening and placement of supplies
    2. Needles and specialty needles
    3. Syringes
    4. IV (intravenous) base solutions
    5. IVPB (intravenous piggyback) solutions
    6. Premixed parenteral products
    7. Vials
    8. Ampules
    9. IPA (isopropyl alcohol) swabs, vented dispensing pins, IVA (intravenous admixture) seals and sharps containers
    10. Sterile IV tubing
    11. Repeater pumps
    12. Miscellaneous sterile compounding supplies
  3. Calculations for sterile compounding
    1. Calculations as part of anteroom protocol
    2. Dosage calculations
    3. Special considerations
    4. Basic formula calculations
    5. IV flow rate and drip rate calculations
    6. Calculation skills in the sterile compounding environment
  4. Quality control
    1. In-process tests and inspections of personnel performance, equipment, facilities, and product
    2. Risk level considerations for CSP (compounded sterile products)
      1. Immediate Use CSP (compounded sterile product) risk level
      2. Low Risk Level CSP (compounded sterile product) with 12 hour or less BUD (beyond use date)
      3. Low Risk Level CSP (compounded sterile product)
      4. Medium Risk Level CSP (compounded sterile product)
      5. High Risk Level CSP (compounded sterile product)
    3. Documentation
    4. Batch record requirements
  5. Compounding sterile products
    1. Products commonly used in parenteral preparations
    2. Characteristics of sterile products
    3. Particulate matter and prevention of particulate matter
    4. Pyrogens
    5. Incompatibilities affecting sterile products
    6. Stability and other factors affecting sterile products
  6. Parenteral preparations
    1. Compounding large volume parenterals (LVP)
      1. Essential supplies
      2. Compounding procedure
    2. Compounding small volume parenterals/intravenous piggyback (IVPB)
      1. Essential supplies
      2. Compounding procedure
    3. Ampule-based preparations
      1. Properties of ampule medications
      2. Administration of ampule-based preparations
      3. Compounding procedures of ampules
      4. Essential supplies
    4. Vial-based reconstitution
      1. Proper reconstitution procedure
  7. Specialty admixtures
    1. Narcotic preparations
      1. Properties of narcotic CSPs (compounded sterile products)
      2. Patient controlled analgesia
      3. Controlled substance storage and record keeping
      4. Compounding narcotic CSPs (compounded sterile products)
    2. Pediatric preparations
      1. Pediatric CSPs (compounded sterile products)
      2. Pediatric dosing
      3. Pediatric formulations
      4. Administration of pediatric CSPs (compounded sterile products)
      5. Compounding pediatric CSPs (compounded sterile products)
  8. Sterile parenteral nutrition solutions
    1. Types of parenteral nutrition
    2. Indications for TPN (total parenteral nutrition)
    3. Formulation of TPN (total parenteral nutrition) solutions
    4. Administration of TPN (total parenteral nutrition) solutions
    5. Cleaning and calibration of the ACD (automated compounding device)
    6. Premixed TPN (total parenteral nutrition) solutions
    7. Special considerations for preparing TPNs (total parenteral nutrition)
    8. Compounding of TPN (total parenteral nutrition) solutions
      1. Additives
        1. Incompatibilities of additives
      2. Nutritional requirements
      3. Standard mixing protocols for TPN (total parenteral nutrition) preparations
      4. Labeling and storage
  9. Chemotherapy products and procedures
    1. Common chemotherapy drug categories
    2. Properties of chemotherapy CSPs (compounded sterile products)
    3. Compounding of chemotherapy CSPs (compounded sterile products)
    4. Handling risks for chemotherapy
    5. Training for chemotherapy preparers
    6. Administration of chemotherapy CSPs (compounded sterile products)
    7. USP 797 guidelines for chemotherapy preparations
    8. Hazardous drug spills
  10. Process validation testing for the following CSPs (compounded sterile products):
    1. Large volume parenteral
    2. Small volume parenteral
    3. Additives to CSPs (compounded sterile products)
      1. Powder reconstitution
      2. Ampules
    4. Narcotic CSP (compounded sterile products)
    5. Pediatric dilution
    6. TPN (total parenteral nutrition)

Lab Content

  1. Large volume CSP (compounded sterile product) production, labeling, and documentation
  2. Small volume CSP (compounded sterile product) production, labeling, and documentation
  3. Reconstitution of drug product
  4. Ampule manipulation and transfer
  5. Narcotic CSP (compounded sterile product) narcotic PCA (patient-controlled analgesic) syringe production, labeling, and documentation
  6. Pediatric special dilution production, labeling, and documentation
  7. Adult parenteral nutrition preparation, labeling, and documentation
  8. Chemotherapy theory and demonstration

Special Facilities and/or Equipment

1. Laboratory supplied with water and electricity, laminar flow hood, materials necessary for aseptic preparation of parenteral products and hazardous substances, admixture pump, hazardous substances/sharps disposal equipment, hazardous substances spill kit, labels.
2. Textbooks, overhead, video tapes, multimedia cart, and charts.

Method(s) of Evaluation

Methods of Evaluation may include but are not limited to the following:

Objective exams
Process validation checklists
Lab practical exams
Quizzes
Homework assignments

Method(s) of Instruction

Methods of Instruction may include but are not limited to the following:

Lecture presentations and classroom discussion regarding topics
Small group recitation sessions to discuss concepts

Representative Text(s) and Other Materials

McCartney, Lisa. Sterile Compounding and Aseptic Technique: Concepts, Training and Assessment for Pharmacy Technicians, 2nd ed.. 2024.

Types and/or Examples of Required Reading, Writing, and Outside of Class Assignments

Self-evaluation of experiential competency.

Discipline(s)

Pharmacy Technology