Nurse prescribing is gradually being implemented across a range of areas in healthcare. This paper examines the context of prescribing for mental health problems and discusses the issues relating to nursing and some of the broader matters such as the effectiveness of medication for mental health problems, the economics of mental illness and more general workforce issues. Mental health nurse prescribing obviously presents some significant research opportunities that should be seen within the settings of the Medical Research Council's framework for assessing complex health interventions (Campbell et al., 2000). The paper also considers some of the challenges of undertaking a randomised controlled trial for a topic within what Nancy Woolf (2000) describes as a 'socially complex service context'. Such a context requires the research team to consider a number of potential confounds. The paper concludes by suggesting some ways that such sources of confound be minimised.
Barker, P. , Reynolds, W. (1996) Rediscovering the proper focus of nursing . Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing3: 76-80 .
2.
Brooker, C. , White, E. (1997) The Fourth Quinquennial National Community Mental Health Nursing Census of England and Wales. Manchester: University of Manchester .
3.
Brooker, C. , Gournay, K. , O'Halloran, P.et al. (2000) Mapping the Capacity of the English University System to Deliver NSF Training Priorities. Report to the NHS(E), Leeds. Leeds: National Health Service Executive (E ).
4.
Campbell, M. , Fitzpatrick, R. , Haines, A.et al. (2000) Framework for design and evaluation of complex interventions to improve health . British Medical Journal321: 694-696 .
5.
Carrasco, J. L. , Diaz-Marsa, M. , Saiz-Ruiz, J. (2000) Sertraline in the treatment of mixed anxiety and depression disorder . Journal of Affective Disorders59: 1, 67-69 .
6.
Department of Health (1995) Clinical Standards Advisory Group Report on Services for People with Schizophrenia. London: HMSO .
7.
Department of Health (1999a) Review of Prescribing, Supply and Administration of Medicines. London: The Stationery Office .
8.
Department of Health (1999b) Clinical Standards Advisory Group Report on Services for People with Depression. London: The Stationery Office .
9.
Department of Health (1999c) The National Service Framework for Mental Health Services. London: The Stationery Office .
10.
Doherty, J. (1997) Barriers to the diagnosis of depression in primary care . Journal of Clinical Psychiatry58: 5-10 .
11.
Geddes, J. , Freemantle, N. , Mason, J.et al. (2000) SSRIs versus other antidepressants for depressive disorder. (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 4. Oxford: Update Software .
12.
Gournay, K. , Birley, J. (1998) Thorn: A new approach to mental health nursing . Nursing Times94: 49, 54-55 .
13.
Gournay, K. (2000) Role of the community psychiatric nurse in the management of schizophrenia . Advances in Psychiatric Treatment6: 243-251 .
14.
Gournay, K.J.M. (2000) Psychiatric nursing techniques. In: Gelder, M. , Lopez-Ibor, J. , Andreasen, N. (eds). New Oxford Textbook of PsychiatryOxford: Oxford University Press .
15.
Gournay, K. , Denford, L. , Parr, A-M.et al. (2000) British nurses in behavioural psychotherapy: A 25-year follow-up . Journal of Advanced Nursing32: 2, 343-351 .
16.
Gournay, K. , Thornicroft, G. (2000) Letter: Comments on the UK700 case management trial . British Journal of Psychiatry177: 371 .
17.
Gray, R. (2001) A Randomised Controlled Trial of Medication Management Training for CPNs. PhD thesis, Institute of Psychiatry, University of London.
18.
Gray, R. , Gournay, K. (1999) What can we do about extrapyramidal side-effects?Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing7: 3, 205-202 .
19.
Gray, R. , Wykes, T. , Parr, A.M.et al. (2001) The use of outcome measures to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of antipsychotic medication: A comparison of Thorn graduate and CPN practice . Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing8: 3, 191-196 .
20.
Gray, R. , Wykes, T. , Gournay, K. (2003). The effect of medication management training on community mental health nurses' clinical skills . International Journal of Nursing Studies40: 163-169 .
21.
Hayhurst, K. P. , Brown, P. , Lewis, S. W. (2003) Postcode prescribing for schizophrenia . British Journal of Psychiatry182: 281-283 .
22.
Kemp, R. , Hayward, P. , David, A. (1997) The Compliance Therapy Manual. London: The Bethlem and Maudsley NHS Trust .
23.
Kennedy, E. , Song, F. , Hunter, R.et al. (2000) Risperidone versus typical antipsychotic medication for schizophrenia (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 4. Oxford: Update Software .
24.
Kisling, W. (1994) Compliance, quality assurance and standards for relapse prevention in schizophrenia . Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica89: (supplement 382), 16-24 .
25.
Laraia, M. (2000) Psychopharmacology. In: Stuart, G., Laraia, M. Principles and Practice of Psychiatric Nursing. Mosby: St Louis, Missouri , ch 28, pp 572-607.
26.
Lego, S. (1997) A critique of Gournay's position on nursing theory and models . Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing4: 64-66 .
27.
Lewis, G. , Churchill, R. , Hotopf, M. (1997) Editorial: Systematic reviews and meta analysis . Psychological Medicine27: 3-7 .
28.
Limoba, M. S. , Moncrieff, J. (2000) Drugs versus placebo for dysthimia (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 4. Oxford: Update Software .
29.
Luker, K. , Austin, L. , Hogg, C.et al. (1998) Nurse-patient relationships: The context of nurse prescribing . Journal of Advanced Nursing28: 2, 235-242 .
30.
Marks, I. , Lovell, K. , Noshirvani, H.et al. (1998) Treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder by exposure and/or cognitive restructuring: A controlled study . Archives of General Psychiatry55: 4, 317-325 .
31.
McDougal, C. J. , Epperson,C. N. , Pelton, G. H. (2000) A double blind placebo controlled study of risperidone addition in serotonin reuptake inhibitor-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder . Archives of General Psychiatry57: 8, 794-801 .
32.
McGorry, P. , Jackson, H. (1999) The Recognition and Management of Early Psychosis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
33.
Mischoulon, D. , Nierenberg, A. A. , Kizilbash, L.et al. (2000) Strategies for managing depression refractory to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatment: A survey of clinicians . Canadian Journal of Psychiatry45: 5, 476-481 .
34.
Patel, A. , Knapp, M. (1998) Costs of mental illness in England . PSSRU Mental Health Research Review5: 4-10 .
35.
Paykel, E. , Hart, D. , Priest, R. (1998) Changes in public attitudes to depression during the Defeat Depression campaign . British Journal of Psychiatry173: 519-522 .
36.
Stein, D. J. , Zung-Dirwayi, N. , van de Linden, G. J. H.et al. (2000) Pharmacotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 4. Oxford: Update Software .
37.
Taylor, D. , Mace, S. , Mir, S.et al. (2000) A prescription survey of the use of atypical antipsychotics for hospital inpatients in the United Kingdom . International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice. 4: 41-46 .
38.
Taylor, D. , McConnell, D. , McConnell, H.et al. (2001) South London and Maudsley NHS Trust 2001 Prescribing Guidelines. London: Martin Dunitz .
39.
Thornicroft, G. , Bindman, J. , Goldberg, D.et al. (2002a) Researchable questions to support evidence-based policy concerning adult mental illness . Psychiatric Bulletin26: 364-367 .
40.
Thornicroft, G. , Bindman, J. , Goldberg, D.et al. (2002b). Creating the infrastructure for mental health research . Psychiatric Bulletin26: 11, 403-406 .
41.
Wahlbeck, K. , Cheine, M. , Essali, M.A. (2000) Clozapine versus typical neuroleptic medication for schizophrenia (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 4. Oxford: Update Software .
42.
Weiden, P. J. , Shaw, E. , Mann, J. (1987) Causes of neuroleptic non-compliance . Psychiatric Annals16: 571-578 .
43.
Wolff, N. (2000). Using randomised controlled trials to evaluate socially complex services: Problems, challenges, recommendations . The Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics3: 97-109 .
44.
World Health Organisation (1999) The World Health Report. Geneva: WHO .
45.
Wykes, T. , Parr, A-M. , Landau, S. (1999) Group treatment of auditory hallucinations. Exploratory study of effectiveness . British Journal of Psychiatry175: 180-185 .
