Right to prescribe expands nurses' role in treatment of drug addiction

摘要

Nurses' role in treating patients addicted to drugs has grown hugely following the acquisition of prescribing powers, figures show. The number of controlled drug items prescribed by nurses in 'schedule 2', which includes mosdy opioid analgesics and treatments for addiction such as methadone, almost doubled from 34,310 in 2006 to 66,625 in 2007, according to the NHS's watchdog, the Healthcare Commission.