Nurse and Midwife Independent and Supplementary Prescribing

Programme title:	Nurse and Midwife Independent and Supplementary Prescribing (V300)
Apply:	direct to the University via the NHS Business Unit
Code:	HHC76-3
Start (pt):	September/ February
Mode:	part-time
Duration:	6 months part-time
Location:	to be confirmed
Faculty:	Faculty of Health & Social Sciences

The unit provides 45 credits at Level 3.

Undertaking a nurse/midwife independent and supplementary prescribing programme is a mandatory requirement for those practitioners who wish to undertake the role associated with nurse/midwife independent and supplementary prescribing (NMC 2006), leading to recognition by the NMC as possessing a licence as a prescriber.

Summary

This unit aims to meet your individual learning needs and provide appropriate educational opportunities, in theory and practice, for you to develop proficiency in the practice of prescribing from the British National Formulary as Independent Prescribers and prescribe as a Supplementary Prescriber within your speciality.

The unit will provide you with practical opportunities to enable you to develop as an independent and supplementary prescriber within your own clinical area. During this element of the learning process, you will be supported by your DMP and the programme team.

In order to ensure safe and effective prescribing, this unit will ensure that your practice is underpinned through the development of appropriate, contemporary, evidence-based theory. You will be encouraged to reflect in and on action in order to critically analyse your own development.

Additionally, your understanding of the underpinning knowledge base will be enhanced through peer support and shared learning. In this way you will focus on the ethical, legal, accountability and pharmacological issues relating to prescribing. This will provide you with an opportunity to explore and reflect upon the similarities, and differences, in prescribing practice between a range of specialities.

The outcome of these processes will enable you to become a proficient and safe prescriber within your sphere of practice.

Career Opportunities

The outcome of these processes will enable you to become a proficient and safe prescriber within your sphere of practice.

Teaching/learning methods and strategies

Your learning will be supported through a student centred work based learning approach. The unit is evidence based and related to current local and national agenda’s.

There will be opportunities for you to engage in a variety of learning experiences. In this way you will be encouraged to take back to your own practice area the key learning outcomes of the unit.

This process will be supported by lecturer facilitation, including the delivery of key presentations around the learning outcomes, as well as specialist sessions and the opportunity to develop key skills in a controlled environment, where appropriate. You will also be required to plan how to meet the unit learning outcomes, in theory and practice, relating them to your own practice environment through the completion of the required assignments.

Additionally your learning will be supported via tutorials, group work, E-learning via BREO and E-learning library resources. You will be able to bring your reflections on experiences in practice to enable integration of theory to practice.

Assessment

Proficiency will be demonstrated through the assessment of theory and practice.

A range of assessment strategies will be employed to test knowledge, decision making and the application of theory to practice. These are:

1) A written Case analysis which must include both prescribing and non-prescribing interventions, controlled drugs (if relevant to your area of practice), and recommendations for improvements in practice. This assignment will involve an in-depth analysis of patient treatment, care and prescribing behaviour.

This analysis should be based on real experiences of a patient you have seen, for whom a prescription was required. Your assignment will include patient history, presenting symptoms, assessment, working diagnosis, treatment options (which must include pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions), and expected outcome (2000 words).

2) 2 Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs), systematic and detailed examinations of practice within a simulated learning environment. These will include 1 generic and 1 specialist scenario which will include prescription writing and drug calculation

3) a numerical assessment within the context of prescribing.

4) a final written examination comprised of a total of 20 short answer and multiple choice questions, testing pharmacological knowledge and it’s application to practice

5) review of your portfolio. This is comprised of a practice journal which includes a log of practice as well as detailed analysis and reflection on your learning experiences in practice. These are to be mapped against the NPC behavioural indicators until all have been achieved.

Further details about the programme

Outline Teaching Schedule (NMC, 2006) :

Consultation, decision-making and therapy, including referral
Influences on, and psychology of, prescribing
Prescribing in a team context
Clinical pharmacology, including the effects of co-morbidity
Evidence-based practice and clinical governance in relation to nurse prescribing
Legal, policy and ethical aspects
Professional accountability and responsibility
Prescribing in the public health context

Entry requirements

You must:

Have valid 1st level registration on the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) professional register.

Be capable of study at Level 3 (1st degree level).

Have at least three years post-registration clinical nursing experience (or part-time equivalent). Of these 3 years, the year immediately preceding application to the unit must have been in the clinical field in which you intend to prescribe.

Have a Designated Medical Practitioner (DMP) willing to contribute to the 12 days learning in practice element of preparation. The DMP will also be required to participate in the assessment process.

Have written agreement of your employing organisation to allow attendance and completion of all elements of the prescribing course, and continuing professional development.

Have commitment from your employer to enable access to a prescribing budget and make other necessary arrangements for prescribing practice, upon successful completion of the course.

Have been assessed as proficient to take a history, undertake a clinical assessment and diagnose, by your employer before being put forward.

Occupy a post in the employment of an NHS organisation or GP practice in which you will need to prescribe.

Fees, Bursaries, Scholarships, Costs

Contact NHS Business Unit for costs.

Attendance

There is no set minimum attendance but all parts of the curriculum are essential and students are required to make up any study time lost through absence.

There are 28 taught study days, as well as a minimum of 12 days supervised learning in practice which equates to 12 x 7.5 hours (6.5 hours excluding breaks) days.

Estimates of study time required:

Taught Sessions: 150 hours (based on 6 hour study day)
Directed Learning: 72 hours
Self Directed Study: 150 hours
Practice: 78 hours (excluding breaks)

Find out more

How to apply:

Please contact the NHS Business Unit or download an application form from the website.

E: nhs-business-unit@beds.ac.uk
T: 01582 743048
F: 01582 743704

For further information on the unit please contact Christine Norgate, Lecturer:

E: debbie.martin@beds.ac.uk
T: 01582 743841

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Nurse and Midwife Independent and Supplementary Prescribing