books

Nurse prescribing

Edited by Jennifer L Humphries and Joyce Green Macmillan 137 pages£13.95

Novice nurse prescribers and their managers may be attracted by the simple title and attractive cover, but on the whole they will be disappointed.

Unfortunately, there is nothing much in it for senior managers and leaders, either.

Big chunks of the book are padding, chapters duplicate each other, and the same points are rehearsed exhaustively - even within chapters.

There is little evidence of editing - the disclaimer from the editors that they have allowed different authors to retain their own 'style' should be heeded.

On the positive side, there are two very useful chapters and a couple of other interesting small sections, including a summary of ethical dilemmas faced by any prescriber. A pharmacist explains the practice of prescribing rather simply but at least clearly.

The chapter written by two nurse prescribers from Bolton who use case studies very effectively to illustrate how they have incorporated prescribing into their practice is also useful, providing insight into the experience of becoming a nurse prescriber.

On some points the book is misleading: for example, talking about diagnosing as if most community nurses already make rigorous clinical assessments like doctors. And it implies diagnosing and prescribing are basic skills all nurses probably have already. It even suggests that prescribing may be no less risky than the nurse advising the patient about a medicinal product. It would also have been handy for managers if the findings of the formal evaluation of the nurse prescribing pilots had been covered succinctly and if the perspective of GPs and managers who led nurse prescribing had been included. Nurses' experience of prescribing in other countries is also ignored.

Instead we have a mixture of basic information, together with a hopeless evangelism for the 'cause' of nurse prescribing and the value of practice nurses, and a total absence of any critical appraisal of the past, present or future.

The whole tone is depressed and defensive, as if nurse prescribing is the embattled hope of the nursing profession. And the penultimate chapter is a jumble of pet theories, gripes and prejudices entirely unfounded in reality or evidence-based studies.

The main problem with this book is that it was out-of-date long before publication. Publishing a book on nurse prescribing in the UK just before the recent Crown review of prescribing makes one wonder if the editors are preying on the worries of the 26,000 health visitors and district nurses embarking on the roll-out of nurse prescribing.

Alternatively, they simply did not appreciate the scope of the Crown review. Clearly, they have not kept close to developments in prescribing policy.

Sally Gooch

Director of nursing,

Northampton Community Healthcare trust