A Critical Review of Factors and Challenges Influencing Non-Medical Prescribers in Primary and Urgent Treatment Care Facilities in England

Abstract

Background: Non-medical prescribing in England has empowered allied health professionals such as nurses, paramedics, and pharmacists working in acute and primary care settings to prescribe within their competency area in suitable work settings. The opportunities for non-medical staff to prescribe in respective clinical areas of expertise have increased substantially and continue to do so. Prescribing is now an integral part of advanced clinical practice, which is not limited to just nurses but has expanded to other allied health professionals. Purpose: To analyse the factors and challenges influencing prescribing for non-medical prescribers, during consultations with patients in primary and urgent treatment centre facilities. Methods: This study employed a critical systematic review of relevant articles chosen from electronic databases including CINAHL, Medline, Cochrane library, and Scopus. Keywords were used to formulate a search pattern using Boolean operators and suitable qualitative studies relevant to the inclusion criteria were selected. Results: Thematic analysis of the articles concluded that there were a lot of sub-themes including a lack of protocols to support decision-making, peer support, and difficult patients which were interdependent posing as a potential barrier or acting as a facilitator in certain consultations Conclusion: The findings have provided adequate reassurance that non-medical prescribers were aware of the facilitators and barriers to non-medical prescribing. Organizational support and continued professional development are key components of the barriers and enablers for non- medical prescribers working in urgent and primary care settings.