Is mental health nurse prescribing qualitatively different?

A total of 365 nurse prescribers (11 registered mental nurse (RMNs), 354 non-RMNs) in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde returned a questionnaire (55% response rate) on the impact of nurse prescribing. Thematic analysis using NVivo7™ elaborated on the earlier quantitative findings that RMNs differed from their colleagues in terms of attitude and experience of nurse prescribing. It is suggested that this may be a result of different approaches to the therapeutic relationship. This paper describes the process of arriving at that conclusion. This and other themes originating in these data will be explored further in the next phase of the study. This will involve a grounded theory approach beginning with semi-structured interviews with patients, mental health nurse prescribers, GPs and consultant psychiatrists