Nurses in Ontario will soon be able to prescribe birth control, province announces

Registered nurses in Ontario will soon be able to independently prescribe some medications like birth control, the province's health minister announced Monday.

Registered nurses in Ontario will soon be able to independently prescribe some medications like birth control, the province's health minister announced Monday.

Beginning in January 2024, nurses will be able to take additional training and certification courses that will allow them to prescribe things like birth control, drugs for smoking cessation and travel medications to treat or prevent things like malaria and traveller's diarrhea, according to a news release.

Nurses will also be able to prescribe flu shots and COVID-19 vaccines.

Those certification courses are being developed and will require approval from the Council of the College of Nurses of Ontario.