Nursing prescription: list of products and examinations that nurses can prescribe

Dressings, medical devices, nicotine replacement therapy, analgesics, biological tests, screening, contraception: nurses now have a right to prescribe enshrined in law. The list is set by an order of 26 June 2026, which replaces the previous lists of 2012 and 2023. This guide details what you can prescribe or renew, under what conditions, and how to write and record your prescription.

Can a nurse prescribe without a doctor?

Yes. Since the law of 27 June 2025, article L4311-1 of the Public Health Code provides that nurses prescribe health products and additional examinations necessary for the exercise of their profession. The decree of 24 December 2025 makes it one of their areas of competence: prescribing products and examinations suited to the clinical situation, within their areas of competence. Prescription is notably part of nursing consultation.

The law also amended article L4161-1 on the illegal practice of medicine: it does not apply to nurses who prescribe health products and examinations on this list. You therefore prescribe in your own name, under your own responsibility, without a prior medical prescription.

This prescription is limited to a list set by order of the ministers responsible for health and social security, after consultation with the High Authority for Health and the National Academy of Medicine. The law provides for it to be updated at least every three years.

What text sets the list of nursing prescriptions?

The order of 26 June 2026 setting the list of health products and additional examinations that State-qualified nurses are authorised to prescribe or renew, published in the Journal officiel on 27 June 2026. It repeals article 2 of the order of 20 March 2012 (medical devices) and article 1 of the order of 8 August 2023 (vaccines). It organises prescription into six areas: vaccination, wounds, sexual and reproductive health, smoking cessation, health products, biological examinations.

Note: the order distinguishes prescribe (initiating a treatment or examination) and renew (continuing an existing prescription, sometimes 'identically'). Check for each product which verb is used in the text.

What can a nurse prescribe for wounds?

Medical devices

• prescription and renewal of aids for the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers (mattresses, overlays, cushions);
• prescription and renewal of compression stockings and tights, with a prescription for identical compression strength.

Dressings

Prescription, for an initial period of seven days, of dressing items: sterile compresses and adhesive dressings, bandages, films, and technical dressings (hydrocolloids, hydrocellulars, alginates, hydrogels, hydrofibers, activated charcoal, hyaluronic acid, silicone interfaces…).

Health products

• skin protective sprays;
• local anaesthetics, other than injectable form;
• antiseptics, only within the first five days after a wound appears;
• low-dose silver nitrate in case of hypergranulation.

What can a nurse prescribe in sexual and reproductive health?

• renewal of oral contraception: prescriptions dating from less than a year ago, for a maximum duration of six months, non-renewable (except contraceptives on a list set by order);
• prescription of condoms;
• prescription of emergency contraceptives;
• prescription of beta-HCG testing for confirmation and dating of pregnancy;
• prescription of screening tests for HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhoea.

For the renewal of oral contraception, you enter on the initial prescription your name, first name, identification number, the mention 'Nursing renewal', the duration of renewal in months (six at most) and the date.

Can a nurse prescribe nicotine replacement therapy?

Yes. The order authorises the prescription of nicotine replacement therapy and a blood test (cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting blood glucose) to assess cardiovascular risk factors. Health insurance reimburses nicotine replacement products on the list of reimbursable products; the rate of cover is indicated on its page on smoking cessation. Health insurance notes that nicotine replacement products can in particular be offered to pregnant women who smoke.

Initial assessment for smoking cessation is also part of the nurse's independent role, as are motivational interviewing and support for cessation: prescription thus fits into comprehensive care that you can provide in consultation.

What medicines can a nurse prescribe?

• level 1 analgesics according to the WHO classification, including in their antipyretic indications;
• adjustment of dosages, according to the indications mentioned in the initial prescription, in the field of pain management;
• antiseptic solutions and products;
• physiological saline.

What medical devices can a nurse prescribe?

• prescription and renewal: bed frames, hire of crutches and walking sticks, patient lifts, incontinence equipment (penile sheaths, pouches, urinary catheters), infusion apparatus and accessories for home use, needles for implantable chambers;
• prescription: nasogastric tube for enteral nutrition at home;
• renewal: enteral nutrition equipment;
• renewal as is: elastic compression orthotics, blood glucose self-monitoring equipment (lancets, test strips, lancing devices, pen needles).

Which biological tests can a nurse prescribe?

• INR: renewal once for dosage, or for a few days in case of imbalance;
• FBC, platelets and serum electrolytes, in the context of a known condition or suggestive symptoms;
• MSSU, with antibiogram if necessary;
• glycémie à jeun, ou en cas de déséquilibre du diabète et d'hypoglycémie ;
• serum creatinine, albumin-to-creatinine ratio and HbA1c, only in known diabetic patients and if these tests have not been prescribed in the last three months.

Can a nurse prescribe vaccines?

Yes: all vaccines on the vaccination schedule for people aged eleven and over, seasonal flu vaccines from age eleven and COVID-19 vaccines from age five, subject to declaration and training requirements. Everything is explained in our guide on vaccination by nurses.

How should a nurse prescription be written and recorded?

1. Write the prescription: for nicotine replacement products, the Health Insurance scheme requires a prescription on a free-form document in duplicate (original for the patient, copy for the fund), with your identification, your practice setting, the patient's identification, the date, the name and dosage of the product, and your signature.
2. Record the prescription in the patient's file or in their shared medical record: the order makes this mandatory for any prescription it mentions.
3. For a renewal, ensure that the pharmacist will be able to consult the initial prescription, by any available means of traceability.

Point of caution: the list in the order is exhaustive. A product or test not listed cannot be prescribed by a nurse, even as part of a consultation. It then falls to another prescriber, a cooperation protocol or, for nurses with the relevant qualification, advanced practice.

What about the nurse in advanced practice?

The nurse in advanced practice has their own, more extensive, prescribing rights, set out in specific regulations. These are presented in our guide on the nurse in advanced practice. To place prescribing within your full range of competencies, also consult the role and competencies of the nurse.

Official sources

• Légifrance: order of 26 June 2026 setting out the list of health products and complementary tests that nurses are authorised to prescribe or renew, decree no. 2025-1306 of 24 December 2025, law no. 2025-581 of 27 June 2025
• National Assembly: adopted text of the law on the nursing profession
• Health Insurance: coverage of smoking cessation support by nurses
• Conseil national de l'Ordre infirmier: publication of orders on acts, care and prescribing