Maintaining and developing competencies in nurse prescribing

The development of nurse prescribing in England has taken a step forward with the introduction of the new extended curriculum in January 2002. However, the extension will refocus attention on the safety and quality of the care delivered by nurses who prescribe. Individual nurses have a responsibility to practice safely, while their employing organizations have a responsibility to put in place the systems to ensure this. The recently-published document Maintaining Competency in Prescribing: An Outline Framework to Help Nurse Prescribers (National Prescribing Centre, 2001) aims to help both parties achieve this aim.