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Heated, hourlong panels clash over APN full-practice authority as S2996 is discussed

Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee · February 9, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Advanced practice nurses, nursing schools, patient advocates and physician groups made competing safety and access arguments as the committee heard S2996, a bill to remove the joint protocol requirement for APNs. Proponents cited workforce shortages and evidence from other states; opponents warned of higher costs and quality risks.

Trenton ' A hours-long, often contentious hearing over S2996, a proposal to remove the joint protocol and allow advanced practice nurses to practice without career-long physician agreements, filled the Senate Health Committee's afternoon on Feb. 16.

Proponents ' including the New Jersey State Nurses Association, nursing-school deans and many APNs ' described accumulated workforce shortages in primary care and behavioral health and pointed to six years of emergency-waiver experience during which they said the state did…

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