The necessity and possibility of implementation of nurse prescribing in China: An international perspective

BACKGROUND: The number of countries where nurses are legally permitted to prescribe has grown rapidly due to a variety of external and internal forces. Despite its international popularity, nurse prescribing has not yet been implemented in China widely. OBJECTIVE: The intent of this paper is to review the current international literature regarding nurse prescribing so as to explore the necessity and possibility of implementation of nurse prescribing in China and classify the research gap. METHODS: Eight electronic databases including Embase, SpringerLink, EBSCO, CINAHL, Medline, Wiley, Science Direct, CochraneLibrary were electronically searched to identify related peer-review articles published in the English language only from 2007 to 2017. Relative references found from the identified studies were traced back to ensure that potentially eligible articles were included. RESULTS: Thirty-three publications which met the inclusion criteria were included in this literature review. The literature shows that not only could nurse prescribing provide quicker service, improvements in quality, but also could make better utilization of the nurses' professional skills and increase nurses' autonomy. Moreover, the barriers of nurse prescribing are explored to identify the factors that may facilitate the success of its implementation. CONCLUSION: The review advises that nurses' views towards nurse prescribing have played a significant role in the success of nurse prescribing. While no literature regarding Chinese nurses' attitudes towards nurse prescribing could be identified, it is imperative to examine their attitudes on it. This would help Chinese healthcare policymakers ascertain the necessity of the introduction of nurse prescribing and provide them with valuable information for service planning.