Nurse Ezelina Joins UK’s League of Nurse Prescribers, Independently Prescribing Medications.

FNA News, Lagos Nigeria. 14th September,2026.

Malawian-born nurse Ezelina Dacruz has made history as the first care home nurse in Wales to qualify as an independent prescriber, highlighting the expanding clinical role of nurses in the UK.

A Malawian-born nurse has made history in Wales after becoming the first nurse working in a care home in the country to qualify to independently prescribe medication to residents.

Ezelina Dacruz, 50, achieved the milestone after completing a Nurse Independent Prescriber course at Bangor University while continuing her work as clinical lead at Glan Rhos Nursing Home in Brynsiencyn, Anglesey.

Her achievement has been recognised with a special Wales Care Award.

The milestone is significant not only for Dacruz, but also for the wider nursing profession. It highlights a scope of nursing practice that may be unfamiliar to many nurses and members of the public in other parts of the world.

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In the UK, appropriately qualified nurses can become independent prescribers after completing approved prescribing education and meeting the requirements of their professional regulator. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) sets standards for nurse and midwife prescribers.

From Malawi to making nursing history in Wales

Dacruz qualified as a nurse in Malawi in 2000 and has spent 21 years working at Glan Rhos Nursing Home.

Her prescribing qualification was funded by the care home, which also supported her with time and resources to complete the demanding programme.

The course involved classroom learning, independent study, assignments, examinations and supervised clinical practice.

Dacruz said the qualification was motivated by a practical need: helping residents receive appropriate treatment more quickly.

“I thought having a prescription qualification would really help our residents.”

As clinical lead, Dacruz was already involved in arranging GP consultations and e-consultations when residents became unwell.

She said being able to prescribe would make the process more efficient.

“I thought me being able to prescribe would make things easier and the residents could get the treatment quicker.”

Her qualification therefore represents more than an additional professional credential. It places advanced clinical decision-making directly within a care-home setting.

Nurses can prescribe in the UK — but training matters

Dacruz’s story also provides an opportunity to clarify an important point about nursing in the UK.

Nurse prescribing is not simply a case of a nurse deciding to prescribe medication.

Nurses must meet the relevant regulatory and educational requirements before they can prescribe independently.

In the UK, nursing does not end at administering medication. Nurses who undertake approved prescribing education and meet the regulatory requirements can become independent prescribers.

The NMC’s standards also provide for independent nurse prescribers to prescribe medicines within their competence and professional scope.

This distinction is important.

Independent prescribing requires advanced knowledge, clinical assessment, pharmacology, decision-making and professional accountability. It is an extension of nursing practice based on additional education and competence — not a replacement for safe multidisciplinary healthcare.

Why this matters for nurses across Africa

For many nurses trained or working in African healthcare systems, the idea of a nurse independently prescribing medication may appear unusual.

In many settings, prescribing is traditionally associated primarily with doctors.

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The UK model demonstrates that nursing roles can be structured differently.

With the right education, regulation, governance and clinical competence, nurses can take on expanded responsibilities that include assessment, diagnosis within scope, treatment decisions and prescribing.

That does not diminish the role of doctors.

Instead, it demonstrates what can happen when healthcare systems deliberately develop the advanced clinical capabilities of nurses.

For African health systems facing shortages of healthcare professionals, long waiting times and uneven access to medical services, the broader question is worth considering:

What more could appropriately educated and regulated nurses safely do if their scope of practice was expanded?

Dacruz’s achievement is therefore not simply a Welsh care-home story. It is part of a much larger conversation about the future of nursing.

A potential model for social care

Care home residents can have complex health needs and may require prompt clinical assessment and treatment.

Dacruz’s new qualification could help reduce delays in accessing appropriate medicines in situations within her prescribing competence.

Care leaders believe this could also reduce unnecessary GP callouts and some avoidable hospital transfers.

Mario Kreft MBE, founder and chair of the Wales Care Awards and chair of Care Forum Wales, described Dacruz as a “trailblazer”.

He argued that prescribing nurses could play an important role in helping residents receive treatment without unnecessary hospital attendance.

For Glan Rhos, the practical benefits are particularly relevant outside normal working hours.

Kim Ombler, the home’s registered manager, said residents would not have to wait as long for a doctor, particularly at weekends when out-of-hours services may be involved.

She also argued that the model could help the NHS by reducing pressure associated with hospital admissions and ambulance transfers.

The investment behind the achievement

Dacruz has stressed that her achievement was not achieved alone.

Her employer funded the course and supported her with study time.

Her husband and son also encouraged her throughout the demanding programme.

Penbryn Surgery provided additional professional support, with GPs acting as her supervisor and assessor.

The experience highlights an important lesson for healthcare employers: advanced nursing practice requires investment.

If health and social care organisations want nurses to take on more advanced responsibilities, they must also provide access to education, supervision, clinical governance and protected development time.

Simply asking nurses to “do more” without investing in their competence would not be enough.

Recognition for a nursing trailblazer

Dacruz was presented with a special Wales Care Award at a celebration held at Glan Rhos Nursing Home.

Ynys Môn MP Llinos Medi presented the award, with Senedd members Elfed Williams and Mair Rowlands also attending.

Dacruz said she was “very pleased” to receive the recognition and described it as a real honour.

Her achievement has also been celebrated by the care home, which says it is the first independent provider in Wales to have a nurse with this qualification.

What Ezelina Dacruz’s story tells us about nursing

The nursing profession is changing.

Across healthcare systems, nurses are increasingly taking on advanced clinical, educational, leadership and prescribing responsibilities.

Dacruz’s journey — from qualifying as a nurse in Malawi to becoming a clinical lead and independent prescriber in Wales — is a powerful example of professional progression.

But perhaps its greatest significance is the message it sends to nurses beyond the UK.

Nursing is not defined only by what nurses have traditionally been allowed to do.

Scope of practice can evolve when education, regulation, evidence and healthcare policy evolve with it.

The lesson is not that every nurse should prescribe.

The lesson is that nurses should have the opportunity to develop to the highest level that their education, competence, regulation and healthcare system safely permit.

For nurses across Africa and elsewhere who may have grown up with the assumption that prescribing belongs exclusively to doctors, Dacruz’s story offers a different perspective.

Nurses can prescribe in the UK — when they have the appropriate qualification, regulatory authority and clinical competence.

And Ezelina Dacruz is helping to show what that expanded nursing role can look like.

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