During a floor stock inspection, what should a pharmacy technician primarily check?

In a floor stock inspection, the primary focus is on ensuring the safety and efficacy of medications readily available in the pharmacy. Checking expiration dates is crucial because expired medications can lead to ineffective treatment or adverse reactions. This process helps maintain inventory integrity and ensures that patients receive medications that are both safe and effective.

While other elements such as patient medication records, sharps containers, and dosage schedules are also important in the pharmacy setting, they serve different purposes. Patient medication records are more about tracking individual patient therapies and compliance, sharps containers are related to the safe disposal of needles and other sharp objects, and dosage schedules pertain to prescription guidelines for administering medications. The immediate priority during a floor stock inspection is to confirm that the medications on hand are still valid for use, which is why checking expiration dates stands out as the correct answer.