Nurse Prescribing Welcomed By PSA, Australia

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Also Included In: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 13 May 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has welcomed the Federal Budget announcement to extend the cover of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to appropriately qualified and credentialed nurse practitioners and eligible midwives.

Under the new arrangements, these senior nurses will be authorised to write prescriptions for certain drugs that will attract all the benefits of the PBS for their patients.

The National President of PSA, Warwick Plunkett, said the decision by the Government would increase public access to quality health-care and free up doctors to perform more critical medical duties.

"The nurse practitioners who are authorised to undertake these prescribing functions are educated to a Masters level and are recognised as Nurse Practitioners by the nurse regulatory authority in their State or Territory," Mr Plunkett said.

"PSA understands that eligible midwives will be subject to similarly stringent standards."

Mr Plunkett said the development of private practice/consultant nurse practitioners had been restricted by the absence of PBS cover.

"Currently if authorised nurses did prescribe, the consumer would be charged full cost for the medication," Mr Plunkett said.

"This has been a major disincentive to the growth of the practice and a barrier to equitable access for consumers.

"The decision to extend PBS cover to nurses prescribing medications is a commonsense move which will enhance the wellbeing of consumers, including those living in rural and remote areas."

The PSA believes pharmacists are ideally placed, given their grounding in therapeutics and quality use of medicines, to prescribe in the near future.

Source
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia

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