Nurses and midwives will now be able to issue sick leave certificates
Further expanding the roles and competences of nurses and midwives, they are empowered to issue sickness certificates to patients by orders of the Ministers of Health and Social Security and Labour.
Health Minister Arūnas Dulkys says that over the past years, the nursing community has received a great deal of trust and professional appreciation, with increasing responsibilities and a more prominent role in the life of healthcare institutions.
"The empowerment of nurses to provide a wide range of treatment services will undoubtedly contribute to increasing the prestige of the profession and to a more prominent and visible role in the life of health care institutions. Over the past years, tremendous progress has been made and great strides have been made. Patients will also benefit from the changes. The possibility to issue sick leave certificates will contribute to balancing patient flows and reducing queues in medical institutions, opening up the possibility to increase access to health services and to focus on those patients who need more help," says Mr Dulkys.
From 1 July this year, general and advanced practice nurses will be able to issue sickness absence certificates for the following reasons: test-confirmed COVID-19 or influenza viral infection, or the care or treatment of family members after they have contracted a COVID-19 or influenza viral infection, and after the illness has been confirmed by tests. Nurses will be able to issue such sick leave certificates for a maximum of 7 calendar days. If the illness lasts longer than 7 calendar days, the sick note will be issued by the doctor who consulted the patient.
Obstetricians will be able to issue maternity leave certificates for 126 calendar days (70 calendar days before delivery and 56 calendar days after delivery) after 30 weeks or more of pregnancy.
The Order of the Ministers of Health and Social Security and Labour on the update of the rules on the issue of sick leave certificates can be found HERE.
The Ministry of Health is consistently expanding the competences of nurses and midwives in order to reduce patients' waiting times for health services, to improve the accessibility of these services and to reduce the administrative burden on family doctors, as well as to increase the attractiveness of the nursing and midwifery profession.
Since the beginning of this year, nurses have been able to consult patients independently, prescribe tests and assess their results, discuss self-monitoring measures and the specifics of taking medicines. On 1 February, amendments to the Law on Nursing Practice and Midwifery Practice came into force, enabling general nurses and midwives to provide family medicine services and to make referrals for consultations with other healthcare professionals. General nurses are also entitled to extend the continuing treatment of a chronic disease prescribed by a doctor when the patient's health condition is stable.