Abstract
From January 2016, nurses in Poland received new competencies for prescribing. The work is the first in Poland to elaborate on the subject of nurses’ readiness to learn and develop in the context of new nursing rights regarding autonomous prescription of medication and continuation of the prescription for medication. The aim of the study is to analyze the readiness of Polish nurses to learn and develop in the context of new competencies to write prescriptions. The research was conducted among 756 nurses. The standardized questionnaire (Readiness of Employees for Learning and Development) was used. For all subscales of readiness for learning and development, average scores prevailed. The readiness to write prescriptions was significantly related to the level of openness to changes in the work environment (A1 scale), self-evaluation of past educational development (C5 scale) and educational and professional goals alignment- employee and company (scale D2) and increasing the readiness of nurses to practice all of the aforementioned agents, in particular medical devices. The readiness of nurses to learn and develop at all levels of the subscales was on an average level. Younger nurses, with a shorter seniority, having higher education and additional qualifications had a higher readiness to prescribe medications and write prescriptions. The higher readiness for learning and development was matched by a greater readiness to prescribe. The results obtained can be used to plan training and courses, as well as to create special pro-development programs, which may increase the nurses’ involvement in personal and professional development.
Highlights
The development of nursing and the taking over of new functions by nurses have made nursing in many countries a more complex profession, allowing for high-quality patient care [1,2].The introduction on 1 January 2016 of new entitlements for Polish nurses authorizing the prescription of medicines, foodstuffs for particular nutritional purposes and medical devices seems to be a response to the changes taking place in this profession [3]
Nurse prescribing is a novelty in Poland, which raises a lot of controversy and doubt, but it is a great breakthrough in Polish nursing and the first step to introducing the role of an advanced practice nurse
Our study showed that nurses work experience significantly influenced the willingness to ordain selected drugs/agents
Summary
The development of nursing and the taking over of new functions by nurses have made nursing in many countries a more complex profession, allowing for high-quality patient care [1,2]. The introduction on 1 January 2016 of new entitlements for Polish nurses authorizing the prescription of medicines, foodstuffs for particular nutritional purposes and medical devices seems to be a response to the changes taking place in this profession [3]. According to the position of the International Nurses’ Council, the implementation of new nursing competencies will improve the standards of patient care and increase the availability of medical services, help to use nurses’ skills and improve their professional status [2]. The new rights allow for more effective work with the patient, while imposing additional responsibility on the nurses and the need to undertake training to supplement knowledge in the field [4].
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