Prescribing is an expansion of a nurse's/midwife's scope of practice, beyond the skills, competence and knowledge an individual practitioner possesses at the point of registration. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) is mandated to establish the professional regulatory framework for the nurse or midwife prescribing. 

The prescribing of medicines by nurses and midwives was established in 2007 with the Minister of Health signing medicines regulations providing for the regulatory framework for this national initiative. Current prescribing was established through the Nurses Rules, 2010, establishing the division of the Register for Nurse Prescribers (RNP).

 

In the practice, we have a registered nurse prescriber, which means that some consultations can be undertaken solely by the nurse, without the need to see a GP.  These include contraception, sexual health, menopause and some immunisations.