Independent and Supplementary Nurse Prescribing

Overview

It has been suggested that nonmedical prescribing has been the most important development in nursing since it became a profession (Stuttle, 2016). Prescribing by non-medical practitioners has expanded and become embedded in health and care systems (HCPC, 2018) with the UK’s nursing profession having one of the broadest scopes to prescribe in the world. It has enabled the development of new roles which benefit both service delivery and the service users who access the care such services offer. For practitioners, it offers the opportunity to develop genuine autonomy in a range of interesting and varied roles. As an independent prescriber, within your area of competence, this qualification will enable you to prescribe a wide range of medicines from the British National Formulary (BNF). It will also allow you to work with appropriate prescribers in a supplementary prescribing arrangement, prescribing medicines that form part of an identified/agreed Clinical Management Plan (CMP).

The module’s indicative content, learning outcomes and methods of assessment reflect the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s competency framework which has now been adopted by the regulatory bodies as the standard for prescribing practice. In order to ensure that these competencies are addressed the indicative content will include such topics as the policies/procedures of independent and supplementary prescribing, consultation and decision making, the influences on and psychology of prescribing, prescribing in a team context, clinical pharmacology and therapeutics and the effects of co-morbidity across the lifespan, evidence based practice and clinical governance in relation to non-medical prescribing, legal, policy and ethical aspects, professional accountability and responsibility, drug licensing, monitoring procedures and reporting of adverse drug reactions, cost effective prescribing, record keeping, and prescribing controlled drugs.

You will be required to participate in group activities and workshops using digital technology, which include problem-based learning, reflection and student seminars. There will be virtual formal and interactive lectures/discussions, including specialist speakers. Additional resources, learning exercises and information will be available via the module virtual learning environment (VLE) Blackboard™. This facility will also be utilised as a discussion forum for appropriate topic areas and communication. Teaching strategies will consist of:

• Online/blended learning
• Formal, virtual and interactive lectures
• Group work/online collaborative peer working
• Inter professional discussion
• Debate
• Assignment preparation
• Formative group working and collaborative discussion
• Online resources, VLE e.g. Blackboard, Teams
• Simulated learning using clinical scenarios