Fifteen countries have or are about to grant nurses prescribing rights. Marieke Kroezen traces the path to reform and asks whether the diversity in prescribing internationally will endure.

When nurse practitioners here were given the authority to prescribe medicines in 2000, Australia joined a growing number of countries that allow nurse prescribing. Currently, nurses in Australia, Botswana, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Thailand, Uganda, the UK, the US and Zimbabwe have prescriptive authority, while in Spain an introduction process has been started. However, a strict distinction must be drawn between nurse prescribing in industrialised nations and in low-resource settings. The differences in healthcare systems and needs make...