Why New Jersey Must Act Now to Support Advanced Practice Nurses and Protect Patient Access
Over the past five years, New Jersey’s healthcare system has quietly relied on Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) and Nurse Practitioners (NPs) to meet patient needs during an unprecedented public health crisis. When access to care was strained, emergency executive orders temporarily lifted outdated practice restrictions, allowing APNs to provide care to the full extent of their education, training, and licensure.
The results were clear: care expanded, patient safety was maintained, and communities benefited.
Yet today, despite this real-world evidence, New Jersey has failed to modernize its laws — placing community-based practices like IVs By The Seas, our patients, and hundreds of small healthcare businesses at risk.
What Changed — and Why It Matters
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Executive Orders 112 and 292 temporarily removed restrictive joint protocol requirements for APNs. These orders allowed highly trained nurses to diagnose, treat, educate patients, and prescribe without unnecessary administrative barriers — precisely when New Jersey needed every qualified provider available.
For nearly five years, the state observed APNs practicing with expanded authority without evidence of increased adverse outcomes. Access to care improved, and APNs played a vital role in supporting overburdened hospitals, urgent care centers, and community practices.
However, these flexibilities were tied to a declared State of Emergency. With the termination of that emergency — effective February 16, 2026 — APNs were given only 30 days to restructure their practices under a statutory framework that has not been updated to reflect what the state already proved works.
The Problem with Current Law
Despite their education and clinical training, New Jersey law continues to require:
Physician collaboration agreements for prescribing controlled substances, even when the physician may never see the patient, and
Mandatory Management Services Organization (MSO) structures, in which a physician must own 100% of the medical aspects of a practice — regardless of whether that physician provides care within the practice.
These requirements are not about patient safety. They are administrative barriers that increase costs, limit innovation, and restrict access to care — particularly in community-based and preventive care settings.
The Real-World Impact on Patients and Small Businesses
The consequences of legislative inaction are already being felt:
Small healthcare practices face closure, downsizing, or reduced services — not because of lack of demand, but because of regulatory barriers.
Approximately 70% of the APN workforce is female, meaning these restrictions disproportionately affect women-owned businesses and female healthcare professionals.
APNs are increasingly leaving New Jersey or abandoning private, community-based practice models, limiting patient access — especially in underserved areas.
At IVs By The Seas, we have seen firsthand how APN-led care improves access, prioritizes prevention, and supports patient-centered outcomes. These restrictions undermine that work and destabilize the healthcare ecosystem New Jersey claims to support.
A Path Forward: Senate Bill S2996
Introduced on January 13, 2026, Senate Bill S2996 would eliminate outdated statutory restrictions and grant full practice authority to Advanced Practice Nurses in New Jersey. Importantly, this would align New Jersey with over two-thirds of the United States that already allow APNs to practice to the full extent of their education and licensure.
This is not radical reform — it is long-overdue modernization.
Other states have recognized that empowering APNs strengthens healthcare systems, expands access, and supports patient safety. New Jersey has already proven this through years of emergency waivers. What remains is the political will to codify those lessons into permanent law.
Why Action Is Urgent
With the State of Emergency officially ending on February 16, the window to act is rapidly closing. Without legislative action, New Jersey risks:
Preventable disruptions to patient care
Loss of skilled healthcare professionals
Closure of community-based, women-led healthcare practices
This outcome is neither inevitable nor acceptable.
Our Commitment
IVs By The Seas stands ready to provide testimony, data, and real-world examples demonstrating the value of APN-led care. We urge lawmakers to support S2996, release transparent Community Impact Statements, and act decisively to protect patients, providers, and small healthcare businesses across New Jersey.
Modernizing APN practice laws is not about deregulation — it is about recognizing proven competence, supporting access to care, and ensuring New Jersey’s healthcare system remains resilient and equitable.
The evidence is already there. Now it’s time to act.
