M Courtenay

M Courtenay is a Professor of Prescribing and Medicines Management at the School of Health and Social Care, University of Reading. His work focuses on nurse prescribing practices, particularly in diabetes care and chronic disease management. He has conducted multiple national surveys examining prescribing behaviors, clinical training requirements, and barriers to effective medicines management.

• Academic qualifications: BSc, MSc, PhD, CertEd
• Lead author in multiple high-impact nursing journals including Journal of Advanced Nursing and International Journal of Nursing Studies

Research interests center on optimizing nurse prescribing roles through specialist training and continuing professional development. His studies have revealed significant correlations between diabetes specialist training and increased prescribing frequency among nurses.

Key findings from his 2008 Practical Diabetes International study include:

• 51.8% of nurse prescribers independently prescribe 1–5 diabetic medications weekly
• 50% cite lack of CPD as the primary barrier to prescribing
• Significant differences in prescribing frequency between nurses with vs without specialist training
• Commonly prescribed products: glucose monitoring equipment (86.8%), oral antidiabetics (56.7%), insulins (44.3%)

His work has been funded by Sanofi-aventis and contributes to UK healthcare policy developments around nurse prescribing rights.