Towards Prescribing Practice

The variety and number of non-medical practitioners identified for prescribing activity is growing rapidly. Across the country, universities have validated prescribing programmes designed for generic health care practice with a distance-learning component.

Towards Prescribing Practice offers readers a comprehensive guide to the principles and practice of prescribing. The subject matter relates to the government content standards for study programmes and takes its cue from recent research in prescribing and patient care in practice. This book embraces the perennial core principles of prescribing practice, management and leadership.

Content is organised to facilitate progressive learning, with space allocated in each chapter to practice application through discussion and exercises. The early inclusion of a section on patient-centred planning and concordance enables the reader to assimilate new knowledge within an individualised care approach. The final three chapters are written from different clinical perspectives: mental health, palliative care and emergency care, providing assistance to specific areas of prescribing practice.

List of Contributors ix

Acknowledgements xi

1 Understanding Basic Pharmacology 1
John McKinnon

2 Patient-Centred Planning and Concordance 35
John McKinnon

3 The Application of Ethical Frameworks to Prescribing 59
John McKinnon

4 The Public Health Context 81
John McKinnon

5 A Practical Guide to Clinical Governance for Non-Medical Prescribing 117
Ruth Goldstein and Ruth Reilly

6 Collaborative Working and Clinical Management Plans 133
John McKinnon

7 Consultation and Decision Making 149
Clare Allen

8 Legislation, Regulation and Accountability in Prescribing 167
Jo West

9 Prescribing in Palliative Care 195
Yvonne Hopkins and Linda Bray

10 The Mental Health Perspective 223
Stuart Kennedy

11 Prescribing in Emergency Care 261
Ian Loveday and Richard Pilbery

Index 283

"A great foundation for the prescriber. What is particularly heartening is that it offers a realistic approach." (International Emergency Nursing, 2008)

John McKinnon MSc PG Dip BA (Hons), RHV, RGN, RMN
John is a senior lecturer in nursing at the University of Lincoln, UK and the local academic lead for the government's widening participation initiative. He is a former programme leader for the nurse prescribing studies and was in the first wave of practitioners in the country to become nurse prescribers. The variety and number of non-medical practitioners identified for prescribing activity is growing rapidly. Across the country, universities have validated prescribing programmes designed for generic health care practice with a distance-learning component.

Towards Prescribing Practice offers readers a comprehensive guide to the principles and practice of prescribing. The subject matter relates to the government content standards for study programmes and takes its cue from recent research in prescribing and patient care in practice. This book embraces the perennial core principles of prescribing practice, management and leadership.

Content is organised to facilitate progressive learning, with space allocated in each chapter to practice application through discussion and exercises. The early inclusion of a section on patient-centred planning and concordance enables the reader to assimilate new knowledge within an individualised care approach. The final three chapters are written from different clinical perspectives: mental health, palliative care and emergency care, providing assistance to specific areas of prescribing practice. The book includes:

• Colour illustrations to help the reader visualise pharmacological processes.

• Evidence-based and fully referenced chapters.
• Figures to illustrate theoretical frameworks.
• Case vignettes to punctuate the text, providing a practicum in which readers can reflect upon scenarios in clinical practice.
• Tables to provide learning exercises to help readers practise the roles of prescribing, such as cross-referencing the joint formulary.
• Expert clinical perspectives in key areas.

Undergraduate prescribing students, Nurses, Midwives, Pharmacists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Paramedics and Radiographers are among the practitioners who will find this book an invaluable resource.