Registration standard published for nurse prescribing

Registered nurses (RNs) seeking approval to prescribe Schedule 2, 3, 4, and 8 medicines will need at least 5000 hours’ clinical experience in the past six years, according to a newly released registration standard.
 
An advance copy of the new standard for endorsing RNs to prescribe was published last week by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA), ahead of it coming into effect in September.
 
As well as the clinical experience requirement, the standard states RNs will need to complete an NMBA-approved postgraduate study program and have ‘no relevant conditions’ on their registration to be able to apply.

Under the arrangement, which was announced by health ministers in December, designated RNs will also need an ongoing agreement with an ‘authorised health practitioner’ who is able to prescribe autonomously.
The standard confirms RNs will require six months’ clinical mentorship following endorsement, as well as needing to complete 10 extra CPD hours related to prescribing each year.
 
In 2023, the RACGP expressed its opposition to the expansion of RNs’ scope of practice to include prescribing Schedule 8 medicines in a submission to the NMBA.
 
‘The increase in health system entry points, with multiple health professionals offering the same services, reduces opportunity for comprehensive care,’ the submission stated.
 
‘Fragmenting healthcare has been shown to be less safe and more expensive than models that facilitate continuity of care.’
 
In that document, however, the college said it could consider RNs prescribing Schedule 2, 3, and 4 medicines under supervision ‘in areas of identified need’, subject to receiving more detail on the specific models and conditions being treated.
 
According to the new standard, the revised model is designed to allow ‘designated RN prescribers to manage medicines in prescribing partnerships, freeing up other healthcare professionals to focus on more complex areas of patient care’.
 
On its release, NMBA Chair Adjunct Professor Veronica Casey described the changes as ‘a landmark moment for Australian nursing’.
 
‘We’re inviting the entire health community to join us on this journey,’ she said.
 
Unlike nurse practitioners, designated RN prescribers will not be able to prescribe independently.
 
According to the standard authors, the publication of the advance copy is designed to give ‘stakeholders time to familiarise themselves with the standard and interested RNs time to understand what they need to do to apply’.
 
When the NMBA announced the change in scope, it stated the standard would come into effect in mid-2025, although the start date has now been pushed back until September.
 
Assessment for postgraduate study courses leading to endorsement will start this July, authors of the new standard state.
 
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