Allowing nurses to precribe drugs 'patient friendly'
Allowing nurses to prescribe drugs will help create a more patient-friendly health service, it was claimed today.
As Tánaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney revealed that laws giving nurses the added responsibility could be in place by Christmas, the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) said the move was long overdue.
Liam Doran, INO general secretary, said it would allow patients to get much-needed care more quickly.
“It is very pro-active and very patient friendly. The INO has been pushing for this for 10 years as it means the services can respond very quickly to the patient’s needs,” he said.
It is understood that experienced nurses – in particular midwives – will have the power to prescribe antibiotics and other treatments patients may have used but not major painkillers.
Mr Doran said the new legislation would ensure the rules governing prescription were clearly defined.
“We are not talking about unfettered prescription, it is about prescription with experienced and trained nurses in clearly-defined circumstances under agreed protocols,” he said.
It is hoped the move will allow nurses in care homes, intensive-care units and post-operative wards to administer drugs without waiting hours for doctors to hold a consultation.
Ms Harney announced the move at the INO national conference in Mullingar.
She said it would help to make nursing a more attractive profession, with more patients being effectively managed by clinical nurse specialists rather than by consultants.
Ms Harney told delegates that provisions to change the laws would be included in the Irish Medicines Bill due to be enacted before Christmas.
Earlier Madeline Spiers, INO president, noted that there were 3,000 nurses recruited from India, the Philippines and Nigeria this year while Irish-trained nurses emigrated.
She told delegates it was short-sighted, disruptive to team working and contrary to developing and retaining a strong cohort of experienced nurses and midwives.
Ms Spiers asked: “Last year alone we lost almost 1,800 Irish nurses overseas, resulting in the fact that this year we had to recruit almost 3,000 nurses from abroad, with nearly 2,000 of these from India. Is this ethical? Is this right?”
The INO president also called for a whistleblowers policy for the health service.
“We must strive for ever-greater levels of transparency and openness where not only the patient, but also staff who have genuine and sincere concerns about standards and practices can voice these concerns,” she said.
