The Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic issued on 30 July 2024 an amendment to the Decree No. 95/2018 Coll., which determines the scope of competences of nurses and midwives depending on their level of education. Even so, the resort seeks to make the profession of nurses more attractive in our country and to highlight their irreplaceable importance in the health sector.
The Ministry prepared an amendment of the Decree with regard to the needs of practice to correspond to the program statement of the Slovak Government for the years 2023 to 2027. The Decree extends the competences of nurses and midwives to enable them to carry out a wider range of activities separately, which will in particular benefit the availability of healthcare for the patient. It will also increase the autonomy of the profession of nurses and midwives, their professional credit, while also taking into account the requirements of educational institutions in the health sector and the health care providers themselves, said Minister of Health Zuzana Dolinková, according to which the discussions on the new decree took place for months at the level of the Ministry, professional and general public.
New Decree of MZ SR No 208/2024 Z. z., which determines the extent of nursing experience provided by the nurse separately, on the basis of the doctor's indication and in cooperation with the physician and the extent of the midwife's experience provided separately, on the basis of the doctor's indication and in cooperation with the doctor, brings several changes.

For example, it allows nurses and midwives to sort patients according to the urgency of their condition, "triage." It extends the types of medication that a nurse and midwife can administer alone, based on the doctor's surgery within the indicating range. The sisters extend the opportunities to care for a newborn child. Within the outpatient sphere, as well as other spheres, provides for the possibility to perform separate basic skin tests for allergies to nurses, or blood tests using the Point of Care Testing. The results of the examinations are then presented to the physician for consideration. At the same time, the physician may prepare selected administrative procedures in advance, e.g. for prescribing medicines or medical devices. The Decree also lays down the conditions for the assessment of the ECG examination, for the conduct of childbirth by a midwife alone, for sewing small surgical injuries, for the treatment of wounds as such, for the establishment of a basic diet for hospitalised persons in institutional health care and many others.
We believe that the decree will clarify the competences of nurses and midwives across all forms of healthcare provision so that healthcare is more seamless and accessible to all citizens, Minister Dolink closed.