A New Jersey bill would allow advanced practice nurses to prescribe medication on their own without a formal agreement with a consulting physician, according to a NJ Spotlight report.
The measure would help APNs establish their own practices and eliminate the need for physicians to sign a joint protocol. Under the bill, APNs with fewer than 24 months or 2,400 hours of licensed, active advanced nursing practice would still be required to have joint protocol with another provider.
Joint protocols are formal agreements between physicians and APNs that give nurses the authority to write prescriptions and require physicians be available for consultations. Under joint protocols, a collaborating physician must review the chart of at least one of the APN's patients each year, according to the report.
Sixteen states already allow APNs to prescribe medication without joint protocols.
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The measure would help APNs establish their own practices and eliminate the need for physicians to sign a joint protocol. Under the bill, APNs with fewer than 24 months or 2,400 hours of licensed, active advanced nursing practice would still be required to have joint protocol with another provider.
Joint protocols are formal agreements between physicians and APNs that give nurses the authority to write prescriptions and require physicians be available for consultations. Under joint protocols, a collaborating physician must review the chart of at least one of the APN's patients each year, according to the report.
Sixteen states already allow APNs to prescribe medication without joint protocols.
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