title: Legal parameters of drug prescriptions by NPs.
abstract: Nurse practitioners' roles are expanding to include greater legal responsibility as caregivers and as expert witnesses in courts of law. Many states allow the expanding role to include the prescription of drugs, usually within a protocol or standing-order framework. Other states prohibit nurses from prescribing drugs. As the responsibilities of nurse practitioners grow, so should their authority to determine what they consider to be nursing practice. It is the purpose of this article to explicate the ways in which the law has treated the subject of drug prescriptions by nurses with a special emphasis on nurse practitioners' responsibilities.
mesh_terms: D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000592:standards*; D005104:Expert Testimony; D006801:Humans; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014481:United States