The Ministry of Health has expanded the possibilities of indication, use and authorization of dispensing of medications subject to medical prescription by nurses, who will now also be able to prescribe ibuprofen and paracetamol to treat fever.
Specifically, the guide, which was published yesterday in the BOE, aims to guide the actions of nurses, whether to start their use, modify the regimen, extend, suspend or end treatment with these medications.
The nursing action described in this guide is limited to the pharmacological management of fever as a symptom, and in no case excludes medical assessment with the application of the measures that the patient’s clinical situation requires.
The document, which was approved by the Permanent Pharmacy Commission last October, has been agreed upon by the Ministry of Health with the General Nursing Council (CGE) and the Collegiate Medical Organization (OMC), among other representatives of the health professionals.
This is the sixth guide to dispensing medications subject to medical prescription by nurses. Previously, the Ministry of Health has published guidelines for Nursing in cases of wounds, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, burns, ostomies and on oral anticoagulants.
As stated in the BOE, the contents described in this guide are intended to “be an aid to professionals to improve the health results of the people they care for, through comprehensive, safe, collaborative, quality health care, based on evidence and centered on the person”, and seeks to guarantee continuity of care.
The decision to reduce fever with antipyretics assumes that there is no diagnostic benefit in allowing fever to persist, and allows, in patients without contraindications for antipyretics, control of the symptom, prevention of complications, and improving patient comfort.
Monitoring treatment with antipyretics is a common practice of nurses within the scope of their competencies, both in primary care and in the hospital setting, as well as health education for the population for self-management of mild symptoms and the promotion of health and healthy lifestyle habits.
The nursing intervention, which enables the indication of antipyretics, is integrated as another part of the overall approach, diagnostic process and overall treatment of people with fever, and is intended to control said symptom, increase the person’s comfort, and reduce complications associated with it.
