Nurse practitioners as prescribers: past research trends and future study needs

Nurse practitioners in many states still struggle to gain prescriptive authority, while those who have this authorization often face complex regulations governing their prescriptive privileges. Forward progress calls for NPs with prescriptive authority to participate in studies that provide policymakers with relevant data promoting regulatory reforms. This article reviews the literature on NP prescribing, presents a model of trends in NP-prescribing research, and alerts NPs to areas in need of further study.