Introduction. An amendment to the Nurses and Midwives Act introduces new competences for these professional groups with respect to writing out prescriptions as part of the implementation of medical orders (SNP), independent prescription of drugs, including writing out prescriptions for these drugs (INP), as well as independent referrals for diagnostic tests. The scope of competences will depend on the level of education of nurses and midwives. The amendments shall come into force on January 1st, 2016. Aim. The study aims to analyse the attitudes of ward nurses towards extending their professional powers with respect to writing out prescriptions and referring for diagnostic tests on their own. Material and methods. Study group: 23 ward nurses (100% women) working in the Independent Public Children’s Clinical Hospital in Warsaw. Mean age: 49 years (mode and median: 50; min. 31, max. 61, SD = 7.95). Mean length of service: 30 years (mode: 25, median: 30, min. 17, max. 40, SD = 6.38). This qualitative study was conducted on March 20th, 2015 in the form of a hidden structured collective interview (focus) using a prepared scenario. Results. Knowledge of the study group of ward nurses about the legislative changes was insufficient and their attitude towards the introduced changes was not unambiguous. The ward nurses believed that the new competences would apply to the outpatient health care, including primary healthcare in particular. However, the study group of nurses had serious doubts concerning the list of medicines they could prescribe on their own and the list of diagnostic tests to refer their patients for. Conclusions. 1. The level of knowledge of the study group of ward nurses about the new competences was insufficient; therefore, increased educational efforts are needed in relation to this field. 2. The attitudes of the study group of ward nurses towards the new competences were not unambiguous. It should, however, be noted that the study was conducted in a specialised children’s teaching hospital, where the application of the amended regulations, for objective reasons, will be limited. 3. The study should be continued among a representative group of nurses with a similar level of education, professional experience and place of work, with a particular consideration of nurses working in the outpatient health care.

Key words: new competences, prescription of drugs, continuation of treatment, referrals.