Nursing students, nurses and other healthcare professionals involved in prescribing, dispensing, administration and monitoring of medicines should be able to navigate and use the British National Formulary (BNF) effectively. Recent changes to the structure of the BNF have resulted in new symbols, additional sections in drug and drug-class monographs, and a reduction in the amount of cross-referencing between chapters. This article explores how healthcare professionals can access the information in the BNF to ensure that medicines use is optimised, therapeutic effects are maximised, and adverse drug reactions and drug interactions are minimised.