Prescribing is a core skill for all doctors, and increasingly for non-medical staff. It is a difficult skill to learn. A great deal of attention has been paid to prescribing skills in recent times, and the new Prescribing Safety Assessment has focussed minds on ensuring that new graduates are ready to prescribe safely. I hope that this book will be helpful to students and doctors learning to prescribe. As with many skills, practice is essential, and you should take every opportunity to plan the exact prescription of a drug for patients that you see. Prescribing Scenarios at a Glance provides useful practical examples to work through that are referenced within this text. This book has been written with new graduates embarking on the Foundation Programme in mind, and therefore focuses on mainly hospital-related prescribing; however, many of the principles extend to primary care situations. A highly practical approach has been taken, but will not describe all possible ways to look at a prescribing problem. Seek out the advice of experienced colleagues, whether doctors, nurses or pharmacists, who can provide guidance to the novice prescribe!".
This book is deliberately concise, and may be supplemented fay Medical Pharmacology at a Glance which gives a useful summary of drug mechanisms of action.

Preface v

How to use your textbook vi

About the companion website ix

Part 1 Basic principles of prescribing 1

1 Introduction: principles of good prescribing 2

2 Revision: pharmacokinetics 4

3 Using the British National Formulary 6

4 Taking a medication history 8

5 Reviewing current medicines 10

Part 2 Drug selection 13

6 How to choose a drug 14

7 How to choose frequency 15

8 How to choose a dose 16

9 How to choose route of administration and formulation 18

10 How to choose duration of treatment, define treatment objectives and measure outcomes 20

11 Assessing suitability of treatment regimens for patients 21

12 Worked example 1: Chapters 6-11 22

13 Worked example 2: Chapters 6-11 23

Part 3 Prescribing for special groups 25

14 Prescribing in liver disease 26

15 Prescribing in renal disease 28

16 Prescribing in children 30

17 Prescribing in the elderly 32

18 Prescribing in pregnancy and breast feeding 34

Part 4 Logistics of prescribing 37

19 How to write a drug prescription 38

20 Communicating with patients about medicines 40

21 Therapeutic drug monitoring 42

22 Dealing with adverse drug reactions 44

23 Avoiding drug interactions (drugs, food and alternative medicines) 46

24 Avoiding prescribing errors 48

Part 5 Specific drug groups 51

25 Using drugs for the gastrointestinal system 52

26 Using drugs for the cardiovascular system I 54

27 Using drugs for the cardiovascular system II 56

28 Using drugs for the cardiovascular system III 58

29 Using drugs for the respiratory system 60

30 Using drugs for the neurological system I 62

31 Using drugs for the neurological system II 64

32 Using drugs for infection 66

33 Using drugs for the endocrine system I 68

34 Using drugs for the endocrine system II 70

35 How to use drugs for the musculoskeletal system 72

36 Using drugs in haematology and oncology 74

37 Using drugs in anaesthesia 76

38 An approach to common prescribing requests I 78

39 An approach to common prescribing requests II 80

Appendix Cross references to Prescribing Scenarios at a Glance 81

Index 82

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