Bill > A854

Introduced Session

This bill which is designated as the "Consumer Access to Health Care Act," eliminates the requirement that a joint protocol be in place before an advanced practice nurse (APN) may prescribe medications, and sets forth the conditions under which an APN may prescribe medications. These conditions include use of the New Jersey Prescription Blank and satisfaction of continuing professional education requirements related to prescribing controlled substances. An APN with fewer than 24 months or 2,400 hours of licensed, active, advanced nursing practice in an initial role would be permitted to prescribe medication only if a formal collaborating agreement with a provider is in place. The bill also provides that any State law or regulation that requires the signature or similar endorsement of a physician would be deemed to require the same of an APN, to the extent consistent with an APN's scope of practice. The bill incorporates recommendations of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, which also adopted a model act. The model act does not condition an APN's prescribing authority on a joint protocol with a collaborating physician, because collaboration with other health care professionals is currently a professional responsibility. This bill is consistent with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendation that barriers to APN scope of practice be eliminated and that states adopt the model act. The IOM has suggested that federal funding for nursing education programs be limited to only those programs in states that adopt the model act, because it has found that restrictive collaboration requirements are barriers to nursing practices and to patient access to primary care.

Committee Categories

Daniel Benson (D)*,  Craig Coughlin (D)*,  Mila Jasey (D)*,  Nancy Muñoz (R)*,  Marlene Caride (D),  Ronald Dancer (R),  Wayne DeAngelo (D),  JoAnn Downey (D),  Thomas Giblin (D),  Patricia Jones (D),  R. Bruce Land (D),  John McKeon (D),  Angela Mcknight (D),  Pedro Mejia (D),  Matthew Milam (D),  Holly Schepisi (R),  Shanique Speight (D),  Shavonda Sumter (D), 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee (on 01/09/2018)