Prescribing RNs entered Australian healthcare last week, at least conceptually.

AHPRA unveiled a registration standard for RNs to gain an “endorsement for scheduled medicines”, which will allow them to prescribe S4 and S8 drugs under conditions agreed upon with a supervising prescriber — a doctor or nurse practitioner.

Prescribing RNs must have three years of clinical experience under their belts, complete a postgraduate qualification, and undertake a six-month mentorship program with a prescriber.

The training rules mean that the first real-life prescribing nurses will only emerge in 2026, especially as the postgraduate courses will require approval from the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council, which has yet to approve anything.