Hundreds of nurses are to be given the authority for the first time to prescribe a range of drugs without the approval of doctors from next month.
Pilot projects to be announced shortly will see nurses in locations such as nursing homes and acute hospitals being allowed to prescribe a list of around 12 drugs including adrenaline, antibiotics and insulin.
The move is aimed at making better use of nurses' skills, minimising inefficiency and paving the way for a reduction in the working hours of junior doctors.
Department of Health officials say the project is the first step towards extending independent prescription rights for all fully-trained nurses and midwives for a range of drugs.
The new prescription powers will be provided for under the Nurses and Midwives Bill, which is due to be published by the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, in the coming weeks.
However, in the meantime, Mr Martin is to sign an order which will allow the prescription of drugs by around 200 nurses on a limited basis in various locations around the State.
The urgency of transferring prescription rights to nurses has been underscored by changes to the working roster of junior doctors, or NCHDs, which is due to begin this summer.
Under the European Working Time Directive, the average working hours of NCHDs must fall to a maximum of 58 hours per week by August 2004. This means many duties traditionally associated with junior doctors will fall to the nursing profession.
Despite medical scandals in Britain and Ireland regarding the alleged inappropriate administration of drugs, officials say the pilot projects will be closely monitored and that all nurses taking part are fully-trained.
The pilot projects, which have been under discussion for several months, were delayed following conflicting advice over the legal status of extending the new powers to nurses in the absence of new legislation.
The general secretary of the Irish Nurses' Organisation, Mr Liam Doran, criticised the delay in allowing nurses to prescribe drugs which, he said, was recommended in the 1998 Commission on Nursing report.
A senior Department of Health source, however, said it was in both patients' and nurses' best interests to have pilot projects properly evaluated and tested before the wider extension of prescription rights for fully-trained nurses.
An Bord Altranais, the regulatory body for nurses, is to evaluate the projects.
The Nurses and Midwives Bill is also expected to address a number of other issues including revised fitness-to-practise procedures and redefining the role of An Bord Altranais.
The move to empower nurses follows similar measures in Britain, where nurses have been able to prescribe a range of drugs since the late 1990s. Health authorities are moving to extend these rights even further at present. The proposed legislation has already been circulated to other Government departments for comment and observation.
