Introduction
The prescriptive privileges of nurse practitioners today are significantly limited. This can negatively affect their practice and prevent them from fully carrying out their medical activities. Prescribing drugs with strong side effects can certainly hurt patients if done incorrectly. Therefore, the right to prescribe medication is a privilege and requires detailed consideration. Nurse practitioners have been educated in pharmacology and diagnostic, and treatment methods and therefore have the necessary knowledge in these areas. Nurse practitioners can provide significant assistance in health care and are a valuable resource in the medical system (Zhang & Patel, 2021). Prescribing drugs, treatments, and procedures is a central function of nurse practitioners. That is why the expansion of such privileges is necessary in order for nurses to fulfill their duties and care for patients fully.
Discussion
The state should regulate restrictions on prescriptive privileges in accordance with the nursing role papers. The process of regulating prescriptive powers, when regulated by competent authorities, can provide a better level of public safety (Kim, 2019). Certification of nurse practitioners at the federal level will increase their ability to care and make them more effective. Prescriptive powers vary from state to state and may be broader or more limited. In Florida, only physicians are authorized to prescribe drugs to patients. Nurse practitioners can practice treatment autonomously in primary care, sanitary and pediatric general medicine settings. An expansion of responsibilities is also an expansion of responsibilities that trainees must be aware of.
Prescriptive authority is the responsibility of nurse practitioners because the prescription pad must be securely protected from theft. It makes sense to expand prescriptive authority based on the education received by nurse practitioners, courses completed, and certificates and licenses obtained. Today, educational programs prepare nurses with experience and skills in working with patients and managing personnel. In this regard, they are able to show effective results in the field of caring for the sick and prescribing the right medicines that help in treatment. Moreover, communication between patients is more associated with nurses, and, as a result, this category of medical staff allows them to get to know the patient better (Lotfi et al., 2019). This means that nurses can get to know their patients in more detail from different perspectives and provide them with the best treatment they feel. However, this does not mean that they can cancel or change the prescriptions of doctors. However, as mentioned above, they should have the same right to prescribe medicines because they have all the necessary knowledge and qualifications to do so. Prescription options for nurse practitioners are a vital option in communities with poor access to medicine. In such cases, this authorization can compensate for the lack of doctors of a specific profile and thus allow people to receive the necessary treatment.
Conclusion
The ability to prescribe drugs is essential for practice. Prescribing authority is valuable because it allows nurse practitioners to improve their abilities through more significant interaction with patients and oversee diseases and their treatment. The ability to prescribe drugs without restriction improves medical care and promotes more continuity and effectiveness of treatment because it does not have delays in the form of approval of prescribed drugs. Restrictions in this area of activity can lead to a deterioration in the comprehensive services provided and, as a result, a decrease in the level of patient satisfaction.
References
Kim, Y. S. (2019). The Role of Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners in Increasing Access to Buprenorphine. Web.
Lotfi, M., Zamanzadeh, V., Valizadeh, L., & Khajehgoodari, M. (2019). Assessment of nurse–patient communication and patient satisfaction from nursing care. Nursing open, 6(3), 1189-1196. Web.
Zhang, P., & Patel, P. (2021). Practitioners and Prescriptive Authority. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing. Web.