title: Pharmacology education and the acquisition of prescriptive authority.
abstract: A 30-hour pharmacology course designed for master's of science in nursing nurse practitioner (NP) students was made available to community NPs as a continuing education (CE) offering to assist them in meeting new state requirements for prescribing authority. Fifty-seven of 74 course graduates responded to a survey conducted 1 to 4 years after they completed the course. Responses showed that most NPs in clinical practice did initiate orders for drug therapy, although only 11 had obtained prescriptive authority. No differences in drug prescribing patterns were found between master's- and non-master's-prepared NPs, or between NPs who received pharmacology content while enrolled in the basic graduate program or a CE course.
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Fullerton
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pickwell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002140:California; D003152:Community Health Nursing / Q000193:education* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000193:education* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D010600:Pharmacology / Q000193:education*