The University of Alicante has joined the European project DeMoPhaC (Development of a model for nurses' role in interprofessional pharmaceutical care)to establish a common framework for nursing professionals in interprofessional pharmaceutical care. A preliminary study on 3,300 European nurses, doctors and pharmacists found that greater involvement of nursing professionals in pharmaceutical care would have a positive impact.
"Health science professionals and students from 14 European countries will analyze the ideal features of pharmaceutical care as well as nurses' role, with medication prescription as one of the strategic aspects," UA Faculty of Health Sciences lecturer Manuel Lillo explains.
DeMoPhaC partners state that greater transparency, recognition of nurses, joint good practice plans and standardized studies would have a major impact on European society. It is worthy to note, the UA lecturer adds, that in countries such as the UK, Australia or the United States the role of prescribing nurse has successfully existed for years.
In Spain, after years of controversy, nurses can prescribe medications from 23 October 2018, as set out in the Royal Decree on Nursing Prescription published in the Official Journal of the Spanish Government (BOE), which allows nursing professionals to prescribe and authorize the dispensation of certain medications, such as vaccines.
Stages
The goal of this European Commission-funded Erasmus+ project is to explore the point of view of all healthcare professionals involved in medication handling. It consists mainly of a qualitative study per participating country including opinions and overviews by experts from each profession. Afterwards, all information will be shared to establish a Europe-wide action plan to standardize the required and existing level of knowledge on pharmacotherapy, adapted to the day-to-day reality in the field.
In addition to the evaluation on nursing prescription, a guide will be designed to assess nursing students' training and skills. All in all, the objective is to strengthen an international network of pharmaceutical care in nursing and cooperate in education, research, practices and policies.
Partners
Led by the University of Antwerp, DeMoPhaC partners include the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (STTI), the European Academy of Nursing Science (EANS), the European Federation of Nurse Educators (FINE) and several universities.
The University of Alicante's working team, led by lecturer Manuel Lillo, includes three students from the Faculty of Health Sciences: PhD candidate Jorge Riquelme, Master's degree student Alfred Pérez, and Nursing undergraduate Adrián Marco.
"This project, which will finish in 2021, bolsters scientific evidence consolidating and strengthening nurses' work at national and European level. DeMoPhaC will offer new development and research lines for continuous improvement based on the needs of today's population," Lillo concludes.
Source: http://ruvid.org/ri-world/experts-and-students-from-14-european-countries-analyse-nurses-role-in-prescription-and-dispensation-of-medications/
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