Table 1 Nurse prescribing laws, years of adoption and groups of nurses authorised to prescribe medications, 13 countries
From: Nurse prescribing of medicines in 13 European countries
Year first adopted | Country | Regulation | Group(s) of nurses authorised to prescribe (qualification requirements) |
|---|---|---|---|
1992 | UK | Medicinal Products: Prescription by Nurses etc. Act 1992 | (i) Independent prescribers (full prescribing rights since 2006; including certain controlled drugs since 2012, course on independent nurse prescribing required (NMC approved post-registration prescribing programme e.g. v200 or v300 course, length varies, e.g. 30–45 UK credits, typically 6 months; as of September 2019, new standards apply), this includes Community Practitioner Nurse Prescribers (CPNP) with prescribing rights according to a formulary (e.g. V100 or V150, e.g. 10 UK credits), (ii) Supplementary prescribers since 1992 (limited prescribing rights, approved course as a supplementary prescriber) |
1994 | Sweden | Law | RN (Bachelor from university or university college, 180 ECTS) |
2002 | Norway | Law | Public health nurse specialisation (Bachelor, plus 60 ECTS) |
2007 | Ireland | Pharmacy Act, Statutory Instrument No. 201/2007 on Medicinal Products | Nurse prescriber: RN plus additional, approved educational programme (range 20 to 40 ECTS for nurse prescriber certificate or higher if Master APN programme) |
2009 | Denmark | Order 1219 of 11/12/2009 delegation of reserved procedures | RN (Bachelor, of which 30 ECTS “cluster” on medical treatment, including prescribing) |
2010 | Finland | Decree 1088/2010 on Prescriptions | Nurse prescriber: RN (Bachelor, with postgraduate education in prescribing (45 ECTS) |
2012 | Netherlands | Decree, December 21/2011 | Nurse specialist (Verpleegkundig Specialist) (Master APN, 120 ECTS) |
2012 | Cyprus | Nursing and Midwifery Law, Annex III, 2b) V | APN nurse (Master APN degree with specialisation in Midwifery, ICU, Mental Health, Oncology, Community health). Advanced pharmacology (6 ECTS) is part of the Master APN programme |
2014 | Netherlands | Decree of 2014 | Diabetes, lung, oncology nurses (Bachelor, and completion of pharmacotherapy course at a University of Applied Science, e.g. for diabetes and lung nurses, curricula comprise minimum of 2.5 ECTS on prescribing |
2015 | Poland | Ordinance of 28/10/2015 on prescriptions issued by nurses and midwives | Two-tiered: RN with (i) Master and (ii) Bachelor’s degree |
2015 | Spain | Royal Decree 954/2015 of 23 October | RN (Bachelor with min. 1 year work experience; or additional training in prescribing if < 1 year experience) |
2016 | Estonia | Health Services Organization Act 2016 | Family nurse (pereõde) if working with a family doctor (pereast) with completed training of 120 hours (clinical pharmacology, approved by the Agency of Medicines) |
2017 | France | Act 2016-41 on the modernisation of the health system | Nurse (“Medical auxillaires”) |
2017 | Switzerland (Vaud) | Article 124b of Public Health Act 800.01 | Nurse specialist (Master) (“Infirmier practicien spécialisé”) |