Collaborative prescribing and advanced mental health nursing practice

Nurse prescribing is practiced in 13 countries across Europe with the United Kingdom being the first country to introduce nurse prescribing in 1992. While various models of nurse prescribing exist, it has emerged in an eclectic way with limited standardisation of practices across various countries where nurse prescribing is practiced. Nurse prescribing offers Advanced Practice Mental Health Nursings (APMHNs) the opportunity to complete an entire episode of care and can assist them to deliver timely and seamless care. This chapter sets out some of the key issues that have influenced the emergence of nurse prescribing as part of psychiatric/mental health nursing. It offers our conceptualisation of collaborative mental health nurse prescribing and the elements that we believe are important to consider when prescribing as part of Advanced Practice Mental Health Nursing practice. Key to collaborative prescribing is the therapeutic alliance, which is foundational for the delivery of recovery-orientated prescribing practices. While competent and safe prescribing practices are essential, APMHNs also need to be aware of the other factors that influence prescribing within the mental health context, including oppositional discourses, which call for less emphasis on psychopharmacology as a treatment approach.