Community NPs lack support
JAN (2014) doi: 10.1111/jan.12392
Community nurse prescribers in England receive less support and supervision than other nurse independent prescribers (NIPs), a new survey has shown. Community NIPs seem to be more likely to believe that their continuing professional development (CPD) was inadequate to maintain patient safety.
Overall, 77% of the 976 NIPs surveyed, who worked in a variety of settings, reported support or supervision from an experienced prescriber, while 76% had access to a network of nonmedical prescribers. Overall, 73% of NIPs said their regular appraisal included their prescribing role. However, only 69% of district nurses, community matrons and health visitors said they could access a network of nonmedical prescribers, while just 55% could access an experienced prescriber. Only 52% of community NIPs said they had a regular appraisal.
Overall, 87% of NIPs felt that their initial training completely or largely met their needs. Since then, NIPs reported using several strategies to 'keep up-to-date', including the British National Formulary (cited by 95%), the internet (79%), peer network (77%) and peer-reviewed journals (63%). Nurses reported support for CPD as study leave (78%), in-house training (71%) and funding for external training (58%).
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