This section features a regularly updated list of recently published articles relevant to nurse prescribing.

Abstracts of the papers are included and users are encouraged to submit their views about published papers through the feedback section.

Please note: In this section of the website we aim to cover articles on areas where nurses do prescribe. However, not all the treatments or appliances mentioned are prescribable by nurses. For that reason, nurses should check the up-to-date versions of the Nurse Prescribers’ Formulary for District Nurses and Health Visitors (NPF) and the Nurse Prescribers’ Extended Formulary (NPEF) and Drug tariff if they are in any doubt. Alternatively contact your Regional Nurse Prescribing Lead for clarification.

2002 PGDs | 2001 PGDs

Patient Group Directions (PGDs)
Click on the article title below to read the summaries. 

• Developing PGDs for vaccine administration
• Legal issues about PGDs
• When to use PGDs

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• When to use PGDs

Taylor B. Patient Group Directions. Practice Nurse 2003; 25(3): 32-36

Although PGDs have been successfully introduced in services such as immunizations for children, concerns remain among practitioners. This article looks in detail at how to decide when they are appropriate and includes a decision-making flow chart.
 

• Legal issues about PGDs

Caulfield H. Nurse prescribing. Legal issues. Practice Nurse 2003; 25(5): 31

This brief article sets out the requirements for a PGD to be lawful and also outlines the relevant NHS guidance.
 

• Developing PGDs for vaccine administration

Freer M. et al. A collaborative approach to PGD development. Primary Health Care 2003, 13(1): 14-17

This article describes the collaborative process involved in drawing up PGDs for travel and childhood immunizations, some other immunizations and adrenaline for anaphylaxis. The impetus came from a group of practice nurses in Portsmouth and South East Hampshire who were keen to work collaboratively to draw up PGDs that could be used across primary and community care settings.

The process of developing the PGDs, consulting, validating and finalizing them is described. After formal approval, they were launched in September 2001. More recently, some of them have been revised by a Hampshire-wide group of nurses, pharmacists and doctors to reflect changes to vaccination recommendations. This collaborative model could be used across wider areas as appropriate.

The authors highlight the importance of a robust dissemination strategy, including awareness and training sessions for all groups of nurses and practice managers. Within the terms of the legislation, the PGDs were kept as precise as possible and presented in a clear and simple way, to make application in practice easier. Some modest funding was necessary to allow practice nurses to become involved in this work. For some issues, robust evidence cannot be identified and the group had to consider how to encourage good practice.

They stress that although developing the PGDs was time-consuming, effecting change in practice is harder, but conclude that the primary care trusts are committed to the ongoing support and further development of PGDs.

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