Nurses to have power to prescribe medicines by end of year

NURSES will be able to prescribe painkillers, antibiotics and other medicines later this year under plans unveiled yesterday by Health Minister Mary Harney.

The move was flagged in the Irish Medicine Board Act 2006 and draft regulations have been completed to make it a reality this year, Ms Harney said.

The development willallow registered nurses and midwives, subject to education, experience and scope of practice, drug prescribing rights in clinical areas.

Ms Harney, who firstannounced her intention to allow nurses to prescribe medicines two years ago, said that while nurses would be able to prescribe a broad range of drugs, specificrestrictions would apply on certain controlled drugs.

Nurses will have to be employed by a health service provider and undertake a training course. They will only be able to prescribe drugs relevant to the area in which they are working.

Ms Harney said thepatient must be within the care of a doctor and the list of drugs that a nurse could prescribe would be approved by the employer.

The EU Commission has been notified about the draft regulations to provide for nurse prescribing and, providing there are no objections from other EU member states, the minister said she intended to sign the regulations following the three-month notification period.

The health minister said improving patient care was at the heart of the initiative. “I believe that in services such as palliative care, care of the older person and in nurse-led clinics, patients will receive earlier interventions and, therefore, a better service,” she said.

The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) said the development had huge potential to enhance patient care.

INO general secretary, Liam Doran, said the INO was convinced that this was an example of real reform within the health service by increasing the way that itresponded to patient need.

And, he pointed out, the introduction of a nurse and midwife prescribing under an appropriate clinical governance structure wouldensure safe and competent practice.

“The minister is to be congratulated on her persistence, focus and determination to bring this positive development to the stage where it is now becoming a clinical reality,” he said.

He pointed out that international research and experience had shown that extending prescriptive authority to nurses and midwives enhanced patient care outcomes and was shown to be effective and cost-effective.