Terminology

Throughout this book, the terminology for prescribing by nurses and other professions allied to health varies from non-medical prescribing, to nurse prescribing, to non-doctor prescribing. In all these cases, the authors are referring to instances in which professionals other than doctors are able to prescribe medicines. The phrase ‘nurse prescribing’ is problematic as it excludes other professions, such as those allied to medicine, that are now able to prescribe medicines. However, the research findings described in Chapters 3, 4 and 5 were drawn from a study that was completed only with nurses (because only nurses were permitted to prescribe at the beginning of the project), so this research commonly refers to nurse prescribing. The term ‘non-medical prescribing’ has been widely adopted and is used throughout the Department of Health (DoH) policy documents. However, this term has come in for some criticism from professionals, who consider all prescribing to be an inherently ‘medical’ activity and that therefore all prescribers are ‘medical’ prescribers, even if they are not medics. To counter this issue, a preferred terminology is ‘non-doctor prescribing’, and this term has been used as appropriate throughout this text.

Guide to prescribing in the UK

To preface the chapters in this book, a brief guide to the types of prescribing available to non-doctor prescribers in the UK is provided.