Nurse Practitioner Prescribing Practices - Essay Example

Prescribing for future care Prescribing for future care Nurse prescribing Hospital services are the primary functional unit of care of patients (Berkeley, 2013). The hospital services include practices such as; general practice, social interaction and mental care, among others. This article states one of the solutions that lie across the health and the social systems in hospitals and other health care institutions such as nursing homes. The concerned organizations, professionals and policy makers, should work hand in hand in order to achieve an improvement in the way the organization and the delivery of services for patients are carried out. Nurse prescription came into being due to emerging issues such as congestion in hospitals, inadequate qualified doctors’ personnel, as well as the increasing number of mortality rates, brought about by such delays. Until recently, the hospitals were filled with patients who could not be attended to unless the doctor were around to prescribe the kind of medication that they really needed. Due to various research conducted by parties concerned by these issues, areas such as; minor illness, minor injuries, health promotion and palliative care are some of the areas that the nurses could easily administer. Subsequently, this would lead to less congestion in the health care unit as well as improving health care service. Most importantly, mortality rates would reduce because the doctors will efficiently take care of urgent issues with ease. Challenges such as, rising demand, an increase in ageing population, complicated discharge issues, handover and flow and recruitment into emergency care services have brought out the need to foster nurse prescription. Nursing prescription is an initiative that has managed to increase the promotion of preventive measures, improve quality, and have significantly brought own costs. As a result, this has captured the attention of consumer groups, insurers, the federal government as well as the physicians. Historical factors that have led to nursing prescription Most hospitals have been struggling to manage the growing tension brought about by the urgency in emergency care services. The setbacks faced by the emergency departments are the most conspicuous signs of pressure across the health care system. Such challenges have done less on making sure that the health care sector is effectively and more of overwhelming the doctors with simple tasks that the nurses can also carry out (Levsey, 2009). Another setback to the health care sector is the growing number of ageing age groups. The ageing groups have also increased the number of patients with chronic diseases. As if this is not enough, the federal government is directing all the funds to the growing number of retirees, leaving the health care sector having shortage of funds. The numbers of countries that support the nursing prescription initiative have been growing over the years. In as much as, this is a contested issue, more advantages than disadvantages are being observed where nurses prescribe medication in place of a doctor. After various researches, it was revealed that the institution that practiced nursing prescription helped in health promotion activities. Data available in nursing medication prescription In order to fully comprehend the significant of nursing prescription, below is the relevant available data. In as much as nursing, in Australia has been given a prescription authority, there is limited information on the type of medicine that the nurses administer to their patients. Similarly, little is known on how frequently the nurses carry out this practice. However, through an electronic descriptive survey, the available data reflects on how the nurses conduct themselves when undertaking this practice. Currently, a total of 300 nurses have reported to be prescribing medication to the patients (RHW, 2013). The type of medication that was reported was categorized in line with the Australian handbook major drug classification, and then the frequencies were presented to the relevant parties. The results reflected about 78 percent of the respondents indicated that, prescribing medication was part of their nurse practice. The prescribing nurses reported to be prescribing 234 separate medications where relevant. The most prescribed drugs were such as; anti-infective drugs. The other following medications were such as; analgesic, psychotropic, cardiovascular, genitourinary, musculoskeletal and gastrointestinal among others (Ebru, 2012). Through such research, it has been established that the majority of nurses prescribed the medication while in their clinical practice. However, the number of nurses’ prescribing medication to the patient has not really changed for the past four or five years. The medications prescribed are comparable to all the other nurses who practice prescription of medicine. Relevance of nursing prescription nationally and internationally Both locally and internationally, there is the lack of a national workforce plan that has been set aside to ensure the future sustainability of the nursing professional practice. It is evident that there are risks involving the nursing practice especially in prescription of medication. The Australian government report on the health care sector workforce predicts that there will be a shortage of nurses by 2025 (Cecil, 2009). If the issues are not addressed on time, it means that the primary health care sector will be affected by this shortage. To increase the number of nurses, the health care sector should work towards providing for pathways that can attract young people into the nursing profession. One of the most significant ways to develop the nursing skills and making the professional more relevant is to ensure that the nurses keep contributing more to the profession. Therefore, this is where nursing prescription comes in. Nurse prescribing as a practice has been on the frontline in increasing the efficiency of primary health care over the past few years. This historic move has been one of the most important parts of solving the solution of congestion as well as improving services as far as primary care giving, as well. In turn, this has saved the hospital as well as the patients’ time and funds incurred when there are issues of congestion. Through seeing the need of the nurse’s prescription, there has been the need to implement laws that will see to it that the practice in the profession is carried out within the requirement of the law. The laws put in place were such as supplementary prescribing where the nurses, doctors and patients are allowed to enter into an agreement in which the nurses would prescribe medication. The nurses would provide prescription when reviewing conditions such as asthma or diabetes. On the other hand, laws set aside for independent prescription allows the nurses to prescribe medication only for the conditions that the nurses are familiar with in terms of their expertise. Evidence in studies shows that a nurse prescription significantly improves patients’ care. Most of the times, patients do not see the need of waiting in line for a doctor where as they can receive quality services from a qualified nurse. Through the widening the prescription field, it means that the patients are going to receive a fast and more effective health care option. Significant of nursing medication in future Effects of nursing medication on professional outcomes show that there is going to be a workload reduction as well as saving time. A study reveals that urgent appointments in the future are going to be reduced (Radcliffe, 2010). Another significance of this practice shows that more patients will be able access health care services since when nurses are involved, it means that more health personnel are involved in the process. In turn, more patients will end receiving treatment, as opposed to the past where only doctors were mandated to administer medication. In the future, as far as nursing medication is concerned, the patients will be able to gain improved access to information and advice. For instance in the future, the nurses will have been trained to fully explain to the patients on how to take their medicine. It will give time to patients to ask revenant questions. If the patients adhere to the advice they are given by the nurses, they are more likely to take their medication effectively. In addition, there will be future development in modern service that responds to patients when and where they will need care. Conclusion Other alternative views to nursing medication are educating the nurses on more innovative ways to increase their skills in caregiving. It will widen their capabilities as well as boosting their professionalism. Rewards also work best when the most outstanding nurse in care giving is rewarded accordingly. References Buckely, T. (2013). Nurse practitioner prescribing practices: the most frequently prescribed medication. Web. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23346963 Cecil, D. (2009). Medication errors and professional practice of registered nurses. The Australian journal of nursing practice Clinical policies, procedures and guidelines. RHW 2013. Ebru, K. (2012). Causes, reporting, and prevention of medication errors from a pediatric nurse perspective. Australian of journal of advanced nursing. 29(4), 28-3. Levsey, K. (2008). Yesterday, today and tomorrow. Challenges in securing federal support for graduate nurses. Journal of nursing education. 46(4), 176-183. Radcliffe, M. (2010). Doctors and nurses: new game, new results. British medical journal. 320(1085). Read More