Non-medical prescribing ( NMP ) for nurses in the United Kingdom ( UK ) has been in the making for 20 years. “ Independent prescribing “ is described by the Department of Health as a process in which the “ nurse prescriber ” takes responsibility for the clinical assessment, establishing a diagnosis, clinical management and prescribing where necessary, commenced in May 2006. In the UK there is also “ supplementary prescribing ( March 2003 ) “ which is described as a voluntary partnership between the independent prescriber ( doctor or dentist ) , the supplementary prescriber ( registered nurse ) and the patient.

However when these qualifications are achieved, what challenges does an experience nurse at advanced practitioner level, working in a large tertiary cardiac referral unit, face with implementation of these skills, in a large multiprofessional team setting such as paediatric intensive care.

Aims

· Factors which challenge this new role within the intensive care environment
· What challenges & benefits does the nurse practitioner face in this new role ?
· Benefits and non benefits to children, families and the clinical team

Outcome

As when learning all new skills the greater your skill base developed through clinical practice, based within your team, with a medical mentor, the greater the understanding and the ability to integrate into a team with a new a skill base to the advantage of children and families.