title: Comparing nurses' and doctors' prescribing habits.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nurses' prescribing activity in a mental health trust prompted examination of whether nurse prescribers replicate their mentors' prescribing habits.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To explore nurses' and medical mentors' prescribing habits to inform nurse-prescribing strategy.
  
  
  METHODS
  The trust's 14 most-active nurse prescribers and nine of their medical mentors were interviewed. Transcripts underwent phenomenological analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  64 themes emerged showing nurses and doctors approach prescribing differently. Themes were grouped into four categories.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nurse prescribers tend to have greater holistic awareness of patients but are also more risk averse.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Greater strategic vision is required to incentivise nurse prescribing; on its current trajectory it will not meet identified prescribing needs.
authors.forename: Frazer
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Funnell
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Minns
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Reeves
mesh_terms: D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D057184:Practice Patterns, Nurses'; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D006113:United Kingdom