{"id":802763,"date":"2026-07-15T04:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T04:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/802763\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T04:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T04:12:09","slug":"nurses-will-soon-be-able-to-prescribe-pbs-drugs-heres-what-that-means-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/802763\/","title":{"rendered":"Nurses will soon be able to prescribe PBS drugs. Here\u2019s what that means for you"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imagine your elderly father is in an aged care home. It\u2019s Friday afternoon, and he\u2019s run out of his regular Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS<\/a>) blood pressure medication and he can\u2019t get an appointment with the GP.<\/p>\n

Currently, the registered nurse (RN) at the aged care home can assess his blood pressure to see if it\u2019s stable, and administer medication prescribed by a doctor. But the RN cannot issue a new prescription.<\/p>\n

From October 1, this will change. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s because new legislation has been passed<\/a> to allow specially qualified RNs to prescribe a range of medicines. <\/p>\n

The key change is that these can be subsidised through the PBS. Here\u2019s why that matters, and what it means for you.<\/p>\n

Wait, can\u2019t nurses already prescribe?<\/p>\n

Yes, some nurses can. <\/p>\n

Nurse practitioners have prescribed medicines in Australia for more than 20 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But nurse practitioners are different from the newly designated RN prescribers.<\/p>\n

Nurse practitioners<\/a> are registered nurses who have completed extra university study \u2013 a masters degree \u2013 to be able to perform additional duties. They can conduct advanced health assessments, order diagnostic tests, diagnose and independently treat acute and chronic health conditions. <\/p>\n

Nurse practitioners can also independently prescribe medicine, meaning they don\u2019t need to be supervised by a doctor.<\/p>\n

Designated RN prescribers<\/a> are registered nurses who have done specialist units of postgraduate study and are authorised to prescribe certain medicines. From October, the scope of these nurses will expand to PBS drugs.<\/p>\n

But designated RN prescribers cannot prescribe independently \u2013 they must collaborate on prescribing with a doctor or nurse practitioner. The difference is the doctor or nurse practitioner doesn\u2019t need to see the patient each time. <\/p>\n

The categories of medicines<\/a> RN prescribers will be able to prescribe are: <\/p>\n

common over-the-counter and pharmacist-only medicines (schedule 2 and 3)
\nprescription medicines (schedule 4)
\ncertain controlled medicines (schedule 8) that require additional safeguards and monitoring. <\/p>\n

These new rules came into effect<\/a> in September 2025. <\/p>\n

Read more:
\n With extra study, nurses will be able to prescribe medications. Here\u2019s what to expect<\/a><\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s changed?<\/p>\n

The main change is that designated RN prescribers will, from October, be allowed to prescribe PBS medicines. <\/p>\n

Until the new legislation was passed on July 2, designated RN prescribers were allowed to prescribe medication, but their patients couldn\u2019t access PBS subsidies.<\/p>\n

Under the PBS, patients only pay a co-payment \u2013 which is capped<\/a> at A$25 and $7.70 for concession card holders \u2013 rather than the full private price.<\/p>\n

For people taking several medicines, this can mean saving hundreds or even thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs. <\/p>\n

For example, a person taking three long-term prescription medicines would pay up to $900 per year in PBS co-payments. The private cost can be far higher, especially for newer medicines<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But when designated RN prescribing was first introduced last year, there was no guarantee it would cover PBS-subsided medicine. <\/p>\n

So this new legislation is a key change to make sure patients don\u2019t pay extra<\/a> for medicines when they see a designated RN prescriber. <\/p>\n

How will registered nurses qualify?<\/p>\n

Not every RN will be able to prescribe.<\/p>\n

Designated RN prescribers<\/a> must:<\/p>\n

have significant experience as an RN (equivalent to three years full-time in the last six years)
\ncomplete approved postgraduate study
\nundertake six months of clinical mentorship with a doctor or nurse practitioner
\nbe formally endorsed by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.<\/p>\n

Their education focuses on how to assess patients, identify health problems, prescribe medicines, and advise patients on how to use medicines safely and effectively. <\/p>\n

The first graduates of these accredited courses have graduated, with more completing in the second half of 2026<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Who will this benefit?<\/p>\n

People in residential aged care, palliative care and those in rural and remote communities may be among the first to notice a difference. These are settings where access to doctors and nurse practitioners can be very limited and cause delays in getting the right medication. <\/p>\n

Those accessing mental health services and managing chronic diseases may also benefit, because these conditions often need regular reviews and medication adjustments. <\/p>\n

Expanding prescribing to qualified RNs may make it easier to access care closer to home, when it\u2019s needed. <\/p>\n

For example, imagine someone who has asthma who works and lives on a remote farm. <\/p>\n

When their symptoms flare, they go to an urgent care centre, where an RN prescriber identifies that their inhaler treatment needs adjusting. The nurse can write a new script, meaning they avoid waiting days for a GP appointment or even a visit to emergency.<\/p>\n

What still needs to be sorted out?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still not clear which PBS medicines nurses will be able to prescribe. <\/p>\n

However, access is expected to be limited to medicines that match a nurse\u2019s education, experience and area of practice, helping ensure prescribing remains safe while the new model is rolled out. <\/p>\n

State and territory laws still need to be updated, particularly in relation to controlled medicines such as opioids, before designated RN prescribing can commence<\/a>. <\/p>\n

There are still questions about how individual health services will implement the changes: which medicines they will allow qualified nurses to prescribe, who will provide clinical oversight and mentorship, and how monitoring will work to ensure patient safety.<\/p>\n

And there are questions about the workforce. <\/p>\n

Will RN prescribers be located in places where the most serious delays in treatment exist? Will there be incentives to encourage them to work rurally? Will health services have support to release nurses for education and mentorship? <\/p>\n

The bottom line for patients<\/p>\n

This reform is not about replacing doctors or nurse practitioners. It aims to make health care more equitable and affordable. <\/p>\n

If implemented well, it should mean patients face fewer delays in starting treatment, renewing scripts, and responding to health conditions when changes emerge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Imagine your elderly father is in an aged care home. It\u2019s Friday afternoon, and he\u2019s run out of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":802764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":["post-802763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}