Factors influencing the use of competences of nursing staff for writing prescriptions and prescribing medication in primary healthcare facilities in Świętokrzyskie Province

Introduction:
Despite having the competences to write prescriptions and prescribe medication, nurses do not always want to use these competences or do not feel the need to supplement their training through specialised courses, for example. They have concerns related to various factors. The aim of the paper was to determine factors influencing the use of the competences of nursing staff for writing prescriptions and prescribing medication in studied primary healthcare facilities in Świętokrzyskie Province.

Material and methods:
The study was carried out between May and September 2021 in 19 primary healthcare facilities located in Kielce. Two facilities from each of the 13 districts of Świętokrzyskie Province were also drawn to participate in the study. The drawing was done using the R Project for Statistical Computing (R Program). The survey was conducted among 188 nurses. The research tool was an original survey questionnaire.

Results:
The reasons for the lack of interest in obtaining new qualifications by the surveyed professional nursing group were mainly concerns about liability for the prescribed medicine (39; 26.71% vs. 8; 19.05%), the possibility of conducting a physical examination in the place of work (32; 21.92% vs. 4; 9.52%), and multiple responsibilities – workload (19; 13.01% vs. 1; 2.38%). Another barrier was the expectation to receive additional remuneration for performing these activities as part of the job (28; 19.18% vs. 6; 14.29%).

Conclusions:
Irrespective of their qualifications, nurses point to various factors that may limit their willingness to write prescriptions.