Inspired Options are actively seeking UK Nurses with existing Australian Nursing Board registration

Oxford Handbook of Nurse Prescribing

Friday, 29 March 2024

7 Day Health Service
A great ideal
Can the Government make it work?

Authors: Sue Beckwith, Penny Franklin

Overall this handbook is essential as a ‘nutshell’ guide for those nurses and other health professionals undertaking formal learning to become non-medical prescribers.

Especially pleasing, politicians, NHS managers and accountants should note well, was the clear statement that thorough history taking and physical examination are fundamental imperatives before prescribing for patients.

The handbook is compact and light enough to have handy as a refresher or reference for nurses already seasoned practitioners in this art and skill. As one of the latter, first perusal of the book did not make much of an impression; but over the weeks of reading, dipping in and out, as and when, I found more little nuggets of useful information concisely explained. Each reading excursion yielded more nuggets and of course I now view this little handbook as a bit of a goldmine.

Chapter 8 provides brief, concise explanations on the familiar, though often foggy, but important details around prescribing such as the Data Protection Act, clinical trials and research design terms.

In relation to practice, prescribing for special groups of patients is handily grouped under one chapter heading.

The table on the classes of compression hosiery was useful to me as a seldom prescriber of those. In fact there was a lavish sprinkling of tables throughout the handbook, a great help for busy practitioners in obtaining information at a glance.

On a slightly negative note, the chapter on prescribing for pain does not mention the synergistic mechanism of using combined medication at prescribed intervals such as paracetamol interspersed with Ibuprofen (Page 252 -262). I also felt that it could have been stressed that acute glaucoma was a sight threatening ophthalmic emergency (Page 203).

However, the handbook overall is packed with much valuable information, with added notes on complemenatry and homeopathic medication.

Ignoring the warmth I feel for any literature using words like patient and patients, the real test is 'would I part with hard earned cash to buy?'

Yes!

ISBN

ISBN-10: 0198570783
ISBN-13: 978-0198570783

Publisher

Oxford University Press; 1st edition (9 November 2006)

Paperback

448 pages

Reviewer

Anna Hunter RGN, MSc. BSc.Hons (NP Dip.) NP, Cert Ed.(HE)
Advanced Nurse Practitioner

Click here if you need to advertise to nurses