NP prescribing recommendations

Abstract

This study was conducted to identify the impact NPs have on the selection of prescription and non-prescription drugs. Nurse practitioners without prescriptive privileges who work in adult ambulatory care settings were asked to collect data regarding patient diagnoses and recommended drug therapy over a three-day period in August 1985. Nurse practitioners recommended 2,081 new over-the-counter and prescription drugs during this study. Of these over-the-counter and prescription drugs, only 50 (2 percent of all recommended drugs) were changed after consultation with supervising physicians. Of the 50 changes, only two drugs (0.1 percent of all recommended) were changed to different drug categories. Nurse practitioner drug recommendations were well accepted by supervising physicians, as indicated by the data collected. These findings help to demonstrate that NPs without prescriptive privileges have a significant impact on drugs prescribed for patients.