CA25137 - Nurse Prescribing Policies and Education: Collaborative European Initiatives for alignment and impact (ALIGN-NP)

Healthcare systems in Europe are under pressure as they encounter challenges related to aging populations, multi-morbidity, more complex and chronic care needs, and staff shortages. The search for methods to provide efficient, cost-effective care that reaches those with the highest needs is fundamental in achieving Europe’s ambition to unlock sustainable health outcomes with durable policies to address health inequality. Nurse Prescribing (NP) is considered to be such a method and has been adopted across various European countries, albeit in substantially divergent models.

ALIGN-NP gathers experts to work towards a European, data-informed, unified NP strategy by 
(1) the development of a data strategy for the sustainable monitoring of NP, 
(2) capturing current European NP practices, policies and education in data, and 
(3) reaching consensus and setting up impactful, bottom-up activities, including a repository of digital tools to support NP, a European guidance on NP, a white paper and a European train-the-trainer. 
ALIGN-NP will allow to learn from the diversity of NP models, to provide evidence for improving NP practices, education and policies, and to support new implementation processes. 

In a strategic network, including local key informants, information on policies, education, digital tools and available data sources will be brought together. Trainings schools, workshops, international mobility and meetings facilitate research coordination and capacity building. Additional data will be collected with special attention to patient reported outcome and experience measures. A core outcome set and data framework for NP research will be created. Cost-effectiveness is considered a main factor throughout the whole Action.