RCN briefing on nurse prescribing
May 9, 2012 by admin
The RCN has just published a factsheet about nurse prescribing in the UK. National nurses’ associations elsewhere are apparently keen to find out more about nurse prescribing and its evidence base. The factsheet explains the background to the policy, and its nuts and bolts, before looking at how it has been implemented in the different countries of the UK.
In England, the factsheet notes that 20% of independent nurse prescribers are actually using supplementary prescribing, that a few NHS hospitals insist that independent nurse prescribers practise as supplementary prescribers for six months after qualifying, that some NHS Trusts place restrictions by setting or formulary, and that training and professional development are still issues.
In Scotland, a 2010 progress review demonstrated the benefits and positive perceptions of nurse prescribing, which is in place across most of the country, with policies to underpin it; in Wales, however, although legislation was passed in 2007, there has not been a focus on developing it in key areas, and uptake is largely dependent on individuals. Legislation was also passed in Northern Ireland in 2007 but the report does not discuss uptake or implementation of nurse prescribing there.
The evidence base - or lack of it - for nurse prescribing, especially on outcomes, has been highlighted recently (see here and here). The RCN factsheet looks at the work that has been done, and the evidence that is accumulating for the safety and advantages of nurse prescribing mainly from qualitative and anecdotal surveys and questionnaires, concluding that empirical evidence of positive clinical and economic outcomes of nurse prescribing is still lacking.
The debate continues…
February 14, 2010 by admin
A GP blogger on the Financial Times website argues that nurses wishing to learn diagnosis and prescription should do so at medical school on a reduced length course, rather than the “few weeks training” she believes they receive at present. Interestingly, the examples she quotes to back her argument were of inappropriate prescription requests from - yes - nurses who were not prescribers. Avoiding these sorts of scenarios was one of the reasons for introducing nurse prescribing in the first place.
Nurse prescribing increased again in 2008
May 1, 2009 by admin
Nurses prescribed 11.3 million items in 2008, a 20.2% increase on the previous year, according to figures from the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). Penicillins (7.8%) and emollients (4.2%) are two of the items most commonly prescribed by nurses.
By 8 December 2008, there were 10 617 nurse independent prescribers and 21 792 community practitioners on the NHSBSA prescribers’ database. There are also 557 pharmacist prescribers and the volume of their prescribing increased by 86.6% in the year to December, with the NHSBSA receiving 121 093 prescriptions for processing, although prescribing by pharmacists in just three PCTs accounts for over 38% of total pharmacist prescribing.
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