The roles and responsibilities of healthcare professionals are always evolving to better meet population health needs, and to improve timely access to care. Now, Registered Nurses (RNs) in Nova Scotia can prescribe a limited number of medications, devices and order relevant screening or diagnostic tests within their specific areas of expert nursing practice. This model has already effectively been implemented in other Canadian provinces and over twenty years ago in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe.
“Improving access to health care is a priority, and we are working on a variety of strategies to provide timely care,” said Dr. Gail Tomblin Murphy, Vice President of Research, Innovation and Discovery and Chief Nurse Executive at Nova Scotia Health. “Supporting Registered Nurses to be able to prescribe common mediations and order routine tests that patients need helps us to deliver safe, sustainable, patient-centered healthcare.”
In Nova Scotia, registered nurses complete advanced, post-secondary education at a recognized educational institution to become an RN prescriber once they have at least three years of clinical experience in the practice setting where they will be prescribing.
“This work has an important alignment with goals of the Provincial Nursing Strategy,” said Cindy MacQuarrie, Senior Director of Interprofessional Practice and Learning at Nova Scotia Health. “Not only will it allow RNs to build upon on their knowledge and expertise, it is also removing the barriers that are preventing them from further optimizing their current knowledge and skills in order to improve patient care.”
The intent is not to replace or duplicate services currently provided by other prescribers, such as nurse practitioners, pharmacists, or physicians. Instead, this will complement existing services and improve access to health care for all Nova Scotians.
“All members of the health care team bring tremendous value and skill to providing patient care,” said MacQuarrie. “We are continuing to respect the traditional roles of each provider, while at the same time looking at how these roles can adapt to meet changing needs and new challenges.”
As of February 2022, the first cohort of RN prescribers will have completed the requirements to begin prescribing in Nova Scotia. They will be found in select units and clinics at Nova Scotia Health and the IWK Health Centre. In addition, some prescribers will be working in outpatient clinics.
More information on RN prescribing can be found on Nova Scotia Health’s RN Prescribing Library Guide and through the Nova Scotia College of Nursing.
