Support Use of Medication in Socia Care Settings

The author read Mrs. X’s medical notes prior to their initial consultation to afford herself the knowledge she required should she need to prescribe for her when fully qualified. It was evident from reading her medical notes that there were a few considerations to take note of before commencing any treatment, such as her medical history, drug history and allergies. Her past medical history consisted of Type 2 diabetes mellitus, which was diet controlled, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, neuropathy, rheumatoid arthritis and raynauds syndrome.

Supplementary and independent nurse prescribing has taken some years to materialise; this movement was facilitated by Department of Health (DoH), nursing regulators, nursing professional bodies, and general practice (GP) supporters (RCN, 2012). Following the Medicines Act (1992) where only Health Visitors and District Nurses were allowed to prescribe from a limited formulary, over time legislations were subsequently amended allowing non community nurses to prescribe from an extended formulary. In 2003, supplementary prescribing was being recognised and by 2012 The Misuse of Drugs Regulations allowed the nursing formulary to access all of the British National Formulary including controlled drugs. In line with these changes and to ensure that

A prescription can be identified as legally authorised written instruction by a prescribing officer to a pharmacist to dispense medication.

3.1 Describe the roles and responsibilities of those involved in prescribing, dispensing and supporting use of medication

Whenever in charge of the management of a patient’s medication, the nurse should first and foremost be focused on the “12 rights of Medication administration” as indicated in the ‘Pharmacology in Nursing’ textbook (Broyles, 2012). This applies both in the pre-operative phase and every other branch of nursing.

When making the decision to prescribe there are a number of influence you have to consider. It is important to have an awareness of these influences and take them into consideration when issuing a prescription. It is importance to have knowledge of the DOH (2006) Medicines Matters this give guidance on the mechanisms available for prescribing and administration and supply of products. Team trends and external company’s and there representatives promoting their products have a big influence on your prescribing practice Bradley (2006) found that these influences were of concern to some nurses feeling that their colleague may ask them to prescribe for patients they haven’t seen. Thomas (2008)

Whiles weighing Ella, I observed that Ella had red and inflamed rash on her face and in the creases of both hands. According to Beckwith and Franklin (2011), to prescribe safely a holistic assessment of the patient has to be completed and the seven steps of the prescribing pyramid was used which are ,examining the patient’s holistic needs, considering an appropriate strategy, considering a choice of product, negotiating a ‘contract’ and achieve concordance with the patient, reviewing the patients on a regular basis, ensuring all record keeping is both accurate and up to date and reflecting on your prescribing for future reference.(NPC, 1999) were used as a decision making

This act is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom and it governs the manufacture and supply of medicine.

The scope of practice for non-medical prescribers (NMP) has expanded greatly over the last 2 decades, with legislation now allowing NMP’s to prescribe from the whole BNF (with the exception of treatment in addiction and within the prescribers competency). Since the introduction of the Medicines Act in 1986 there have been over 15 different governmental reports and legislative changes (see Appendix 1 timeline) that have allowed for the development and growth of the NMP role. Initiated by The Cumberledge report of 1986 and followed by advisory group report in 1989 legislation was introduced with the Medicinal products: Prescription by nurses act of 1992 which allowed primary care nurses to prescribe from a limited formulary (V100 & V200). This advancement in legislation recognised previous recommendations and placed the improvement of patient care and effective use of resources at the core of its practice. However these acts did not reflect on other areas like secondary care or pharmacist and it wasn’t until 1998 The Crown Report and its second report published a year later that led to supplementary and independent prescribing (V300). In 2003 legislation was passed allowing some prescribing of controlled drugs in palliative care with restricted circumstances (amendment to Misuse of drugs Act 1971). In May 2006 nurses were empowered to prescribe from the whole BNF with the exception of some controlled drugs, and in 2009 further legislative changes were made to include the

* Nursing care providers are not covered by this legislation and must make their own arrangements for the disposal of unwanted medicine through a licensed waste management company.

This booklet will be explaining how Acts and regulations are applied to prescribing, dispensing, administering, storage and disposal of medication in care homes.

Any medication, for example, inhalers should be taken for those who may fall ill during the visit.

2. Explain where responsibilities lie in relation to use of ‘over the counter’ remedies and supplements.

1. In the workplace there is a generic Medication Management Policy and Procedures for Adult Services (Issue 10, 2012) document. This is kept to hand in a locked cupboard, readily available to read. It requires that all Healthcare Staff are given mandatory training and refreshers are provided. Legislation which surrounds the administration of medication includes The Medicines Act 1968, The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, The Data Protection Act 1998, The Care Standards Act 2000 and The Health and Social Care Act 2001

Many patients need not only a preventive or reactive drug, but adapted a combination of both types of drugs in order to allow maximum relief of their disease. Most doctors agree that the result for maximum relief of the minimum amount of medication