Writing prescriptions by palliative care nurses in Poland

Background. The introduction of new permissions, in the field of prescribing medicines and medical devices for nurses and midwives in Poland, took place at the beginning of 2014. Then a draft amendment to the Act on the profession of nurse and midwife was presented by the Ministry of Health. The aim of the study was to explore nurses opinions about the possibility of prescribing drugs and medical devices. Material and methods. The study was conducted in the period from January to February 2020 among 100 nurses related to palliative care from all over Poland. An own survey questionnaire consisting of 23 questions was used. Results. All participants responded to the questionnaire (response rate = 100%). More than half of the respondents (55%) write prescriptions in palliative nursing practice. The decisive majority of respondents (89%) confirmed that the obtained right to prescribe increases the prestige of the nursing profession and 83% of respondents believed that this right contributes to an improvement of the quality of medical services. A total of 57% of surveyed participants indicated the need to expand a list of drugs that could be prescribed by palliative care nurses. Conclusions. The decisive majority of the surveyed nurses expressed views that the obtained possibility to prescribe drugs increases the prestige of the nursing profession and that this right contributes to the improvement of the quality of medical services provided by nurses.