Relationships between medications used in a mental health hospital and types of medication errors: a cross-sectional study over an 8-year period.
The prevalence of medication errors in mental health settings is not well-represented in research. This study used 8 years of medication records to identify when in the medication process the error occurred and was identified, the consequences, type of drug, and root causes. Nearly one-third of errors were wrong dose and occurred in the prescribing stage. The type of error varied widely across medication types (e.g., high-alert, psychotropic).