A regional approach
to nurse prescribing
practice – the South
Island story
Heather Gray
Christine Andrews
The South Island is home to over
a million people or 23.3 percent
of
New
Zealand’s
total
population. Our communities
are geographically diverse, our
population is ageing and
demand for services is steadily
increasing. Our workforce too is
facing pressures – an aging
population means an ageing
workforce and we face
challenges in attracting and
retaining staff in specific
locations and areas of practice.
Registered
nurse
(RN)
prescribing
presents
an
opportunity for us to better
meet the needs of our
population, by making the best
use of our health care
resources,
supporting
collaboration in our health care
teams and making it easier for
people to access the medicines
and health care they need.
The five DHBs in the South
Island have a strong history of
collaboration. We committed to
December 2018 L.O.G.I.C
working together in a ‘best for
system, best for people’,
alliance approach in 2011 and
are
successfully
working
towards a fully integrated South
Island health system, with
integrated information systems
and
regionally
consistent
models of care. We do this so
our communities can access the
same level of high quality care
no matter who they are and
where they live.
This alliance way of working has
supported the development of a
South Island nurse prescribing
policy and framework, for local
implementation. Our regional
approach was driven by a need
to ensure that RNs on the
prescribing pathway are well
supported, both as they are
training and while they are
practising, and that the RN
prescribing service is available
where it is needed most.
The early discussions regarding
upcoming
prescribing
legislation
changes
began
locally, with groups of nurses
from across education and
clinical sectors meeting to
provide joint feedback on the
draft legislation to the Nursing
Council of New Zealand.
Through these discussions, core
focus groups continued to
meet. We quickly realised we
were having similar discussions
locally and that there was
opportunity to network and
develop our thinking on a wider
scale.
On this basis and in the light of
the 2015 legislation, the five
South Island Directors of
Nursing established a RN
Prescribing Group tasked with
developing
a
regional
framework for moving RN
prescribing from legislation to
practice across the South Island.
This framework will guide local
areas to ensure registered nurse
prescribing is well supported
during education and in daily
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