Mismatched expectations: experiences of nurses returning to prescribing

Research has identified continuing professional development for active prescribers to be a challenge; particularly a lack of confidence and anxiety around prescribing. Anecdotally, support to regain prescribing knowledge and competence to facilitate safe prescribing requires some exploration for organisations, mangers and practitioners. To obtain an insight into practitioners’ experiences of returning to prescribing in their clinical role following a period of non-activity. Online semi-structured interviews with five prescribers were conducted, with interview transcripts thematically analysed by the research team. Four themes were generated: individual; the team; the organisation; and the mismatch between the three. Considering these results is important to support those who return to prescribing to ensure safe and effective practice, and a positive experience for all involved.