Prescriptions of Medicine

There are key points to be aware of when administering medications against a printed or hand-written prescription or prior to requesting medicines for a client to take home. These are set out below.

Procedure	Rationale
Ensure prescription is written in indelible ink	To prevent unauthorized changes to prescription
Check the signature of doctor. If a GP practice then address should be printed in full	Confirming identity of prescriber
Name and address of client	To reduce risk of unauthorized misuse or dispensing errors
Age must be written if a child under 12 years	Legal requirement
Name of drug, dosage and frequency clearly written	To ensure clear identification of drug name and details thus reducing risk of potential errors
Preferably no abbreviations but some Latin abbreviations are deemed acceptable	To reduce the potential for drug errors
No more than 28 days’ supply can be dispensed at any one time	To control stocks and amount supplied thus preventing misuse and reducing risks of error
There are restrictions placed on the number of repeat prescriptions a GP can make without seeing the client	To ensure appropriate prescribing

Prior to 1998 only doctors and dentists were allowed to prescribe medicines. Since this time, however, individuals who are registered nurses with a district nursing or health visiting qualification, and who have also undertaken a validated Nurse Prescribing course can prescribe a limited range of preparations (see British Medical Association 2003).