Nurses Await Expanded Medication Competence: ÖGKV Criticizes

Currently, this process is lagging "because the mandatory interest groups are vetoing here," said ÖGKV Vice President Inge Köberl-Hiebler on Ö1 radio on Monday. She sees the Health Minister as being challenged.

Specifically, the Medical Association is putting on the brakes, reported the Ö1 "Midday Journal". Köberl-Hiebler pointed out that the law only states that the mandatory interest groups (such as the Medical Association) must be "heard". "So actually, the legislator could already clearly stipulate that nursing can do this," emphasized the Vice President. She now wishes for a conversation with Health Minister Korinna Schumann (SPÖ).

Ministry: Reduce Bureaucracy, Relieve Nursing Staff and Doctors

The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs stated in response to an APA inquiry that they advocate for members of the higher service for health and nursing care to be allowed to prescribe medical products and medicines in the future. "This demand came from the professional group itself and it is justified." Such a regulation would reduce bureaucracy and save valuable time for both nursing staff and doctors.

The ÖGKV has already submitted very comprehensive lists of medicines. "However, this went beyond the current legal requirements of the Health and Nursing Act (GuKG) and was therefore rejected by the Austrian Medical Association," according to the ministry's written statement. Therefore, the department requested the ÖGKV in September to develop a legally compliant list and to continue discussions with the Medical Association and other involved organizations.

"Viable Consensus" as the Goal

The goal is to "achieve a viable consensus so that future regulations can be practically implemented and uniformly applied," emphasized Schumann's office. And: "To our knowledge, these discussions were already well advanced recently." They continue to offer support for mediation and the final design of the medication list.

Advanced Medication Competence: New Regulation Already Decided for 2024, Implementation Pending

Schumann's predecessor Johannes Rauch (Greens) had pushed forward the new regulation - also with the reference that such prescriptions by nursing staff are quite normal in other countries, according to Ö1. Actually, the innovation (through a regulation by Schumann) should have been implemented by September 1, said ÖGKV President Elisabeth Potzmann in response to an inquiry by APA. That there are now delays is also incomprehensible to her.

The innovation is intended to bring more competencies to certified nursing staff. They would thus also be allowed to "prescribe" certain medications. Of course, according to Potzmann, this only involves those medications that can be purchased over the counter at the pharmacy (so-called "over the counter" drugs). Certified nursing staff are currently not permitted to independently procure and distribute such medications. For example, if a nursing home resident needs a headache remedy available without a prescription at the pharmacy, it must be prescribed by a doctor.

Tedious Processes Even for Over-the-Counter Medications

However, since there is usually no medical staff present in nursing homes, this often becomes very tedious, Potzmann explained to the APA: The general practitioners of the nursing home residents must be contacted in such cases, a prescription for the over-the-counter medication must be issued, and only with this can certified nursing staff then pick up the required medication from the pharmacy. "Certified nursing professionals sit in the doctor's office to get a prescription," Potzmann pointed out the effort involved.

The same problem also exists in home nursing care, where a doctor must also be involved in the procurement. The same applies in hospitals, but this problem is less difficult there due to the quick access to doctors.

Especially patients at home or in long-term care would benefit, says Inge Köberl-Hiebler, because they would have to make fewer trips to get their medications. The list of medications covered by the new possibilities in the law should have been available by regulation of the Ministry of Health since September.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.