Registered nurses in Manitoba will soon have the ability to write prescriptions for common problems and ailments, a move that may help improve efficiency in the health-care system.

Starting May 31, 2018, nurses will fall under the Regulated Health Professions Act, the province said Thursday.

It's a move nurses have been waiting for since 2010.

Nurses who receive additional training will get a new designation under the act, registered nurse-authorized prescribers, and will be able to write scripts for drugs including travel vaccinations, birth control, antibiotics and medications to help control diabetes, the province said.

Marie Edwards, president of the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba, said Thursday expanding the responsibility of nurses supports "sustainable health-care delivery for Manitobans."

Aside from increasing the tasks nurses can do, the act legitimizes many of the self-regulation activities already taking place in nursing, the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba noted.

The Regulated Health Professions Act sets out consistent rules and processes, including how to handle complaints and disciplinary guidelines, across medical professions covered by the act.

Nurses are the second health profession to fall under the act, joining audiologists and speech-language pathologists.