A national exploration of the utilisation of nurse prescribing in Finland: a cross-sectional survey in outpatient settings

TL;DR

This study explores how nurse prescribing is used in Finland and finds that longer consultations and more experience are linked to higher utilization.

Contribution

The study identifies factors influencing nurse prescribing utilization in Finland, a country with a limited prescribing model.

Findings

Longer prescribing consultations are associated with higher nurse prescribing utilization.

Nurses with more than 3.4 years of prescribing experience have shorter consultations and see more patients weekly.

Advanced education correlates with more accurate patient referrals and higher prescription rates.

Abstract

Nurse prescribing is an advanced competency that gives nurses the authority to prescribe medication. Nurse prescribing is increasing globally in response to increasing healthcare demands. There is limited research on nurse prescribing in Finland and other European countries that apply limited nurse prescribing models. This study aimed to explore factors associated with the utilisation of nurse prescribing in Finland. This cross-sectional survey included 84 Finnish registered nurse prescribers. Participants were invited by email and trough snowball sampling. Data were collected via an online questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression. The study followed the guidelines of Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology for cross-sectional studies. Prescribing consultations of longer durations were significantly associated with a higher degree of utilisation of nurse prescribing. There was also an association between prescribing consultation duration and the work experience of prescribing nurses, with those who had been prescribing longer than 3.4 years holding shorter consultations and having a higher weekly number of patients who were prescribed medications. A background education longer than the registered nurse education was associated with higher accuracy of patient referrals to nurse prescriber clinics and a higher frequency of patients who were prescribed medication. This study contributes to the understanding of the factors affecting the extent of the utilisation of nurse prescribing, including prescribing patterns, in countries that follow a limited nurse prescribing model. The registered nurse prescribers reported a moderately high degree of nurse prescriptive utilisation, although the volume of weekly patients who were prescribed medication was low. In the early stages of their prescribing careers, registered nurse prescribers should be provided with adequate support to increase the level of utilisation of nurse prescribing. The results have implications for how to increase the low utilisation of nurse prescribing among early-career registered nurse prescribers.