DECISION-MAKING - THE CONTEXT OF NURSE PRESCRIBING

From October 1994 qualified district nurses and health visitors from e ight demonstration sites in England have been able to prescribe from a limited list of formulary items. Data collected from nurses formed on ly one part of the evaluation of nurse prescribing. These data highlig hted a number of areas where prescribing nurses were faced with diffic ult decisions. A number of authors have considered how both doctors an d nurses make decisions, and the factors which may influence the decis ion making process. With reference to the literature this paper focuse s on the findings related to decision making in the context of nurse p rescribing.