A Pennsylvania law that empowers hundreds of nurse-midwives to prescribe drugs finally is in effect, ending the Keystone State’s distinction as the only state that barred the practice. Gov. Ed Rendell signed the bill in 2007 as part of health care reforms that granted certain health care professionals who are not doctors broader authority to provide basic medical care. But the law went into effect only last weekend, because of the time it took to craft rules to implement the law and complete the complicated final review process. It’s “a sign of how slow it is to get things done in Pennsylvania,” said Vivian Lowenstein, president of the Pennsylvania Association of Licensed Midwives. There are about 330 nurse-midwives in the state, although Lowenstein said only about 250 are practicing. To be licensed as a nurse-midwife by the state Board of Medicine, applicants must be registered nurses, have completed a midwife program and adhere to agreements with their collaborating physicians. To prescribe medications, nurse-midwives will be required have a master’s degree or its equivalent, national certification and ongoing training in pharmacology. Among other things, the law also allows nurse-midwives to prescribe medical devices, administer immunizations and order laboratory tests.
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