Prepare to prescribe medicines from the British National Formulary (BNF) in your area of competence. With our Non-Medical Prescribing course, you’ll learn to prescribe safely, appropriately and cost-effectively as both an independent and supplementary prescriber.

Our CPD course is taught by blended learning, with some online and some campus teaching. You can choose to join us on campus in Chelmsford or Cambridge.

You'll already be a registered nurse, midwife, pharmacist, physiotherapist, paramedic, chiropodist, podiatrist, dietician, diagnostic or therapeutic radiographer, and this course may interest you because there is a recognised need for you to prescribe within your clinical practice.

On successful completion of this course, you can be annotated/registered with your Professional Body as an independent and supplementary prescriber* and you'll be qualified to prescribe medications within your field of competence.

The core teaching will involve an introduction to pharmacology and the generic aspects of prescribing. Although we don’t cover therapeutic indications, we’ll refer to common drugs throughout the module to demonstrate key pharmacological principals. The taught content will include:

• application of consultation and clinical assessment within the prescribing context
• critical application of knowledge of Pharmacology – pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics
• prescribing for special risk groups including children, the elderly, pregnancy and breastfeeding
• drug interactions and adverse events
• holistic approach to prescribing including the biopsychosocial aspects of prescribing
• effective medicines management
• prescribing within the inter-professional team
• legal and ethical issues, including professional accountability and impact on prescribing.

In addition to the generic taught content you’ll have the opportunity to learn about medications specific to your specialist area of practice; through your clinical practice hours and six days of self-directed academic research.