Can an RN perscribe medication?!


Question: Can a Registered Nurse perscribe? What are their limits? What can they do?


Answers: Can a Registered Nurse perscribe? What are their limits? What can they do?

No. Not in the United States. A Registered Nurse Practioner (RNP) or Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) can perscribe medication but a Registered Nurse (RN) does not have perscriptive authority and cannot legally perscribe medication. A RN can do physical assessments and relay this information to the doctor or RNP/APN. The doctor or RNP/APN may perscribed medications or order treatment based on her assessment. The RN's main job is to take care of patients in the absense of the physician. It is her job to assess the patient, look at test results and if she feels the patient needs treatment, then contact the doctor for orders. She changes dressings, gives medications and perform treatments within her realm of practice. There is a Nurse Practice Act that guides what she can legally do. She can follow a protocol of orders if the physician has them. For instance.. If a potassium is low, and a protocol is available, she can start the potassium protocol and treat on the patient without calling the doctor. At the Heart Hospital, if a patient comes into the hospital with chest pain, there is a protocol in place. The nurse can give the patient nitrogycerin and start a nitro gtt based on the patient history and ekg. The RN is expected to do this based on her assessment. It is all written out on a protocol for all chest pain patients.

The RNP or APN can assess and perscribe medications based on her assessment. She works directly under the license of the physician she is representing. She is in close collaberation with the physician in treating the patient. The doctor always knows what's going on with his patients even if he hasn't seen them.

The RN, RNP and APN are a very important part of the health care team.

YES THEY CAN/ I RARELY SEE THE ACTUAL DOC, I SEE THE RN

An APRN can - that is an advanced practice RN- they have a masters degree and are called a nurse practitioner.

no they can only carry out doctors orders a nurse practioner can though

no, only a nurse practitioner can, but they can reccomend otc medicines.

No. The license of an RN does not permit the prescribing of medications, the diagnosis or treatment of any disease without a physician's order. A nurse practitioner is an advance degree (Master's level) RN who has prescribing privileges, but again, they operate under the license of a physician for this purpose.
Basically an RN can assess a patient, perform physical and developmental evaluations, perform complex and simple dressing changes, insert and access peripheral intravenous devices (IV's and PICC lines), and access central catheters (Swan-Ganz and arterial lines) perform dialysis, suture minor wounds, etc. and too many other things to mention.
But, above all a nurse cannot diagnose a disease, prescribe a course of therapy, or administer medication unless she has a written order from a licensed physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant or the like.

A regular RN cannot prescribe. Nurse practitioners can prescribe on protocol. They can only prescribe what their doctor tells them they can prescribe.





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