Nursing Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Nursing, including details on health care, hospital staff, professional care.

The role of the nurse prescriber: the views of mental health and non-mental health nurses.

Nolan P, Bradley E

Staffordshire University and South Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, Stafford, UK. peter.nolan@staffs.ac.uk

Even though the introduction of the role of the nurse prescriber promises improved access to medicines and increased flexibility in the workforce, the take-up of this role to date has been variable across the UK. This questionnaire-based study sought to compare the expectations of two distinct groups of nurses, one from a mental health and the other from a non-mental health background prior to becoming prescribers. Non-mental health nurses were of the opinion that being able to prescribe would increase efficiency and maximize resources, while mental health nurses saw prescribing primarily in terms of the benefits to clients--increased choice, improved access to care, better information about treatments and better quality of care.

Published 13 April 2007 in J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs, 14(3): 258-66.
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