Hygeia Public Health 2016, 51(2): 161-170pl

Primary Health Care patients´ opinions on prescribing selected medications by nurses

Monika Binkowska-Bury, Anna Bartosiewicz, Małgorzata Marć, Paweł Januszewicz

Instytut Pielęgniarstwa i Nauk o Zdrowiu, Wydział Medyczny, Uniwersytet Rzeszowski

Summary
Introduction. The law amending the Act on professions of nurse and midwife passed on July 22nd 2014, starting from January 1st 2016 introduces the possibility of prescribing medications by nurses and midwifes in Poland.
Aim. The Primary Health Care patients´ assessment of the possibility of prescribing medications by nurses in Poland in the context of socio-demographic factors.
Material & method. The study was conducted from January to July 2015 among 1378 Primary Health Care beneficiaries in the city of Rzeszow and its district. The original questionnaire was developed in accordance with the literature and the five-point Likert scale. The data was compiled using the Mann-Whitney U test.
Results. A large group of patients (38.5%) said that nurses did not have sufficient knowledge to meet the new competence requirements; 26.9% of beneficiaries were of the opposite opinion and 34.4% did not give a clear answer. The majority of patients (65.4%) believed that nurses should have the power only to prescribe medical devices and drugs previously prescribed by a physician (61.8%).
Conclusion. Patients refer to the new solutions with reserve, in their majority declaring that nurses should prescribe orders for medical devices and drugs previously prescribed by a physician (repeatable prescriptions). The patients´ awareness of the new competence of nurses is inadequate.

Key words:  prescription, medicinal product, nurse, patient, primary health care