Impact of Structural Autonomy Accorded Through State Regulatory Policies on Nurses' Prescribing Practices

Tracking NP prescribing trends

This article presents the results of three surveys on NP prescribing practices from 1996 to 2001. The data elucidate differences in prescribing practices by practice location, specialty, type of drug, and years of practice. We highlight prescribing trends and identify areas for future research.

How do NPs make clinical decisions?

The authors conducted a study to explore the process primary care NPs use in making clinical decisions and the factors that influence the process. By delineating the process used by primary care NPs in therapeutic decision making, we can enhance clinical decision making in students and practicing NPs.

The psychiatric advanced practice nurse with prescriptive authority: role development, practice issues, and outcomes measurement

Within the rapidly changing health care system, there is an increased need for professionals who can provide cost-effective primary health care for mentally ill patients. This article discusses the role of the Psychiatric Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) with Prescriptive Authority as a cost-effective, high-quality component of comprehensive mental health care delivery. Historical aspects of the development of the Nurse Practitioner (NP) role are discussed, as well as issues specific to the role in psychiatric nursing. The implementation of this role at Rochester is described, followed by recommendations for studying the impact of the psychiatric NP on care delivery, including process and outcome variables.

Prescribing practices among nurse practitioners in adult and family health

Data derived through log recordings of 89 nurse practitioners (NPs) in adult/family practice on 7,086 prescriptions issued during 890 clinical days were analyzed to describe prescribing practices of NPs who held prescriptive authority from the licensing regulatory boards of five western states. Results showed drug utilization to be similar to physician prescribing data, and intensity of prescribing to be less than that of physicians. The distributions of prescriptions by drug category and in relation to health problems underlying prescriptions are reported. Confidence with prescribing by type of drugs was parallel to incidence of prescriptions within drug category. Physician consultation prior to prescribing occurred with highest incidence for health problems treated with least frequently prescribed drugs. Physician consultation or referral was reported for 14.3 per cent of prescriptions.