Promotion of choice in the care of people with bipolar disorder: a mental health nursing perspective.

Inpatient nurse prescribing is proving to be a useful mechanism by which patients can have their medicines prescribed. A case study is described that outlines how a nurse prescriber worked with a patient who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Key issues that have arisen from this case study include the importance of multidisciplinary team working, informed medicines management interventions and the ability to work with patients to promote patient choice. The case study will draw out the difficulties in managing bipolar conditions but enable other nurse prescribers to adopt similar values in their prescribing practice.