Nurses will need 5000 hours’ experience, postgraduate training and six months of mentoring to prescribe S8 drugs
The nursing board has released standards for RN prescribers.
RNs with three years’ full-time experience and a postgraduate qualification will be able to apply to prescribe S8 drugs with medical supervision under the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia’s plan.
Australia’s health ministers approved the plan to let RNs apply for ‘endorsement for scheduled medicines’ — prescribing rights for S2, S3, S4 and S8 drugs — in December 2024.
Last week, the nursing board revealed the standards.
These include that nurses have at least 5000 hours of clinical experience as an RN — equivalent to three years full-time — within the previous six years before applying for endorsement.
