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abstractpubmed· Abstract 2020· item PMID:31446392

Clinical nurse specialist prescribing in a cancer centre supportive and palliative care team. OBJECTIVE: To provide insight into the prescribing practices of three independent nurse prescribers (INPs)/clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) working in a supportive and palliative care team (SPCT) in a district general hospital and a specialist tertiary cancer centre in the UK. METHODS: A prospective review of all consultations and the prescribing activity arising from the consultations (and reasons for non-prescribing following a consultation) of 3 INPs/CNSs between 1 August 2018 and 31 October 2018. RESULTS: Four hundred ninety-three consultations were undertaken on 186 individual patients. Two hundred forty-seven consultations representing 50% resulted in changes to a prescription, and 123 of those consultations representing 50% of prescriptions written resulted in the prescribing of an opioid for moderate-to-severe pain. CONCLUSIONS: This service evaluation demonstrates the potential for INPs in SPCTs to provide comprehensive symptom control while enabling CNSs to practice with a greater degree of autonomy leading to enhanced job satisfaction. On the basis of our experience, we would encourage all palliative care CNSs to undergo training to become INPs (if available).