Continuing professional education

Independent prescribing for nurses, physiotherapists, podiatrists and pharmacists
30 credits – level 6 or level 7

This 26-day stand-alone module has been approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, General Pharmaceutical Council and Health and Care Professions Council. It is designed for nurses*, physiotherapists, podiatrists, and pharmacists who are, usually, selected by their employing organisations.

On successful completion of the 26-day educational preparation, along with the minimum 90 hours clinical supervision by a designated medical practitioner, physiotherapists, podiatrists, pharmacists, and nurses will be able to register as Independent and Supplementary Prescribers with their respective statutory body. For radiographers, they will be awarded the qualification of Supplementary Prescribing.

For nurses, this module is an option for some of the School of Nursing and Midwifery's undergraduate and masters programmes. For further information, please email namcpeadmissions@brighton.ac.uk or nam.pg@brighton.ac.uk.

(* including nurses, midwives and health visitors)

Except for nurses who have the V100 / 150 annotation on the NMC register within the last two years there is no opportunity to APEL into these modules.

For students who are undertaking this module as part of a wider course, they will need to initially contact their course leader for advice regarding eligibility and suitability.

Entry requirements

All nurse applicants to the independent and supplementary programme must meet the following requirements:

• must be a registered first level nurse, midwife and/or specialist community public health nurse.
• must have at least three years' experience as a practising nurse, midwife or specialist community public health nurse and be deemed competent by your employer to undertake the programme. Of these three years, the year immediately preceding application to the programme must have been in the clinical field in which you intend to prescribe, e.g. neonates, mental health. Part-time workers must have practiced for a sufficient period to be deemed competent by their employer.
• must provide evidence of the ability to study at minimum academic level six (degree). In addition, the applicant will need to have written confirmation from:
• their employer of their support for applicant to undertake the preparation programme.
• a designated medical practitioner (DMP)* who meets eligibility criteria for medical supervision of nurse prescribers and who has agreed to provide the required term of supervised practice.

It is the local employer's responsibility to ensure up-to-date police checks and prerequisite skills of diagnosis, history taking and clinical examination prior to application, as appropriate. If the applicant is self-employed they will need to demonstrate, with evidence, that they meet the minimum requirements for governance.

All pharmacist applicants to the Independent and Supplementary prescribing programme must meet the following requirements:

• current registration with GPhC and/or the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI) as a practising pharmacist
• have at least two years appropriate patient orientated experience practising in a UK hospital, community or primary care setting following their pre-registration year
• identify an area of clinical practice and need in which to develop their prescribing skills and have up-to-date clinical, pharmacological and pharmaceutical knowledge relevant to their intended area of prescribing practice
• demonstrate how they reflect on their own performance and take responsibility for their own CPD
• have a designated medical practitioner (DMP)*, identified by the pharmacist, who
  a) has experience in the relevant field of practice,
  b) training and experience appropriate to their role (may be demonstrated by adherence to the DoH (2001) guidance

All physiotherapist and podiatrist / chiropodist applicants must meet the following requirements (to be confirmed by the Health and Care Professions Council in 2013):

• be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council as either a physiotherapist or podiatrist/chiropodist
• have at least three years appropriate patient orientated experience practising in a hospital, community or primary care setting following their pre-registration year
• identify an area of clinical practice and need in which to develop their prescribing skills
• have evidence of up-to-date clinical, pharmacological and pharmaceutical knowledge relevant to their intended area of prescribing practice
• demonstrate how they reflect on their own performance and take responsibility for their own CPD
• demonstrate how they will develop their own networks for support, reflection and learning, including prescribers from other professions
• have a designated medical practitioner (DMP)*, normally recognised by the employing/Health Service commissioning organisation a) as having experience in a relevant field of practice, b) training and experience in the supervision, support and assessment of trainees, c) who has agreed to:
• provide the student with opportunities to develop competencies in prescribing
• supervise, support and assess the student during their clinical placement
• Have at least three years relevant post-qualification experience
• Must provide clear documented evidence that candidates have appropriate background knowledge and experience and are able to study at academic level 6, or level 7

*Please note and ensure that the DMP is aware that there is, currently, no financial support for undertaking this role.

All radiographer entrants to the supplementary prescribing programme must meet the following requirements:

• be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council
• be professionally practising in an environment where there is an identified need for the individual to regularly use supplementary prescribing
• be able to demonstrate support from their employer/sponsor including confirmation that the entrant will have appropriate supervised practice in the clinical area in which they are expected to prescribe
• have an approved medical practitioner, normally recognised by the employing/Health Service commissioning organisation a) as having experience in a relevant field of practice, b) as having training and experience in the supervision, support and assessment of trainees, c) who has agreed to:
• provide the student with opportunities to develop competencies in prescribing
• supervise, support and assess the student during their clinical placement
• have at least three years relevant post-qualification experience
• programme providers must ensure through pre-programme assessment or from clearly documented evidence that candidates have appropriate background knowledge and experience and are able to study at academic level 6, or level 7 if they choose this option

The selection of applicants who will receive prescribing training will, usually, be a matter for local decision in the light of local needs and circumstances. Applications are, usually, initially submitted to the Non-Medical Prescribing Lead in their organisation for signature and then forwarded to the University of Brighton for assessment of the applicant's academic suitability for the module.

Theory and practice hours

Part-time study over one semester of 330 hours to include 156 hours theory, a minimum of 90 hours supervised practice and 84 hours self-directed study.

Credits

30 credits at level 6 or 30 credits at level 7

Application process

Students need to discuss their application with their line manager in their employing organisations.

Application forms are available from our 'How to apply' webpage.

Places are subject to approval by the appropriate Non-Medical Prescribing Lead, if applicable, and by the university.

Assessment

A range of assessment strategies will be employed to test knowledge, decision-making and the application of theory to practice. These are:

(A) Examination

• Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) (25%), a systematic examination of prescribing practice within a simulated clinical environment
• Unseen examination papers (25%) consisting of multiple choice question paper, a calculation paper and a Unseen essay question paper, which test use of British National Formulary and knowledge and analytical reasoning in relation to prescribing issues.

(B) Coursework

• Clinical Management Plan (25%) an in-depth analysis of a drug to be prescribed for students’ specific client group;
• Review of Prescribing Practice Portfolio* (25%) (which includes reflexive practice, critical incident analysis, case studies etc) and will map a record of the satisfactory completion of a period of learning experience. The portfolio is designed to provide evidence of the Single Competency Framework for all Prescribers (NPC/NICE 2012).

* The assessment of the practice elements will be the responsibility of the designated medical practitioner providing support, teaching and supervision of the student.

Students must achieve either 40% at level 6, or 50% at level 7 in each of the four components in the Examination and Coursework elements of the assessment strategies. The final mark will be the amalgamated mark from the four components.

For nurses only (Nursing and Midwifery Council requirement):

• Nurses must achieve a minimum 80% pass at both level 6 and level 7 for the multiple choice question paper

For pharmacists only:

• Pharmacists must achieve competency in at least four physical assessments
• On successful completion of the programme of theory and learning in practice the award of Practice Certificate in Independent Prescribing is given

Further information

For module information, please contact the Module Administrator:

Module leaders: