Important 45-day extension of Joint Protocol requirements

Posted 5 days ago by Victoria Eftychiou in Legislative

Dear New Jersey AANP member,

We asked, you answered and New Jersey’s policymakers heard you.

BREAKING NEWS: Governor Sherrill issued a 45-day extension to the winddown of the executive order. This is still a temporary measure, and our focus needs to remain on securing a legislative and permanent solution. However, this new executive order helps prevent the major loss of access to medications, treatments and continuity of care that patients were facing next week. Under the new executive order, nurse practitioners (NPs) have until April 2 at 5 pm to reestablish a joint protocol with a collaborating physician.

Only through the adoption of a new law can the state permanently retire the joint protocol and prevent New Jersey from going backwards.

Legislative Update: Monday’s hearing on Senate Bill 2996 was moved to discussion only and no vote was taken.

Our work is not done. It’s clear that senators in the committee definitely heard the voices of New Jersey NPs and need to continue to do so. More time to retain joint protocols is not the right long-term solution for New Jersey; passing legislation to adopt Full Practice Authority is what needs to happen. In the coming weeks, we anticipate that there will be several critical points where policymakers need to hear from you. Please watch your email for updates as the bill moves forward and there are more opportunities to have your voice heard. It is critical that legislators hear from NPs at every stage of the legislative process.

Future Action:

Keep an eye on your inbox for updates on the bill and for future opportunities. We know your time is limited and will use the subject line of “ACT NOW” when there is a need or opportunity to reach out to legislators on an issue. Often, the window of time to act is narrow, so we’ll use that flag to help you identify action items. Our team will continue to send updates on the progress of this and other issues with the subject line “UPDATE” to help you easily distinguish quick action items from routine news.

Thank you for all you do advocating for patients.

Sincerely,

AANP Board of Directors
AANP Office of State Government Affairs