New Jersey S 2996: Establishes requirements for emergency medical technicians to be authorized to administer epinephrine by syringe.

Bill Text

S2996 SCS 

SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE, No. 2996

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

� ADOPTED 
MARCH 19, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� JOSEPH F. VITALE

District 19 (Middlesex)

Senator� TROY SINGLETON

District 7 (Burlington)

Assemblyman� WILLIAM W. SPEARMAN

District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)

Assemblywoman� KATIE BRENNAN

District 32 (Hudson)

Assemblywoman� ANNETTE QUIJANO

District 20 (Union)

Co-Sponsored by:

Senators Diegnan, Zwicker, Cryan, Stack, Cruz-Perez, Beach, 
Johnson, Turner, O'Scanlon, Greenstein, Ruiz, Burgess, Holzapfel, Steinhardt, 
Testa, McKnight, Timberlake, McKeon, Moriarty, Corrado, Henry, Wimberly, Space, 
Amato, Mukherji, Assemblymen Scharfenberger, Kearney, Assemblywomen Fantasia, 
Park, Dunn, Reynolds-Jackson, Speight and Assemblyman Onyema

SYNOPSIS

���� Eliminates certain practice restrictions for advanced 
practice nurses. 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT 

���� Substitute as adopted by the Senate Judiciary 
Committee.

�� 

An Act concerning advanced practice nurses, revising 
various parts of the statutory law, and supplementing P.L.1991, c.377 
(C.45:11-45 et al.).

���� Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� (New section) The 
Legislature finds and declares that:

���� a.���� Advanced practice 
nurses are registered nurses who are certified to provide an advanced level of 
health care to patients that exceeds the standard scope of nursing practice.� 

���� b.��� Advanced practice nurses 
augment the system of care in New Jersey and nationwide by providing treatment 
services at a level that can relieve some of the demand on physicians, of whom 
there is a chronic shortage, and expedite access to care for patients, including 
those in medically underserved areas and among medically underserved 
populations.

���� c.���� Studies suggest that 
approximately one quarter of the population of the United States lives in an 
area with a shortage of primary care professionals.� Limited access to care is 
frequently worse among racial and ethnic minorities, people with low incomes, 
and individuals for whom a lack of transportation creates logistical barriers 
to health care.

���� d.��� One way to reduce gaps 
in health care access is to allow full practice authority for advanced practice 
nurses, over 75 percent of whom are educated in a primary care specialty and 
can directly improve access to both primary care services and specialty care 
services.

���� e.���� As of March 2026, 27 
states, the District of Columbia, and two U.S. territories have adopted full 
practice authority for advanced practice nurses.� The requirement to practice 
in collaboration with a physician limits the ability of advanced practice 
nurses to provide primary care and specialty care services, and has been 
associated with advanced practice nurses leaving New Jersey for other 
jurisdictions with fewer practice restrictions.

���� f.���� It has been estimated 
that removing practice restrictions for advanced practice nurses has the 
potential to reduce health care access disparities by a factor of more than 38 
percent.

���� g.��� In response to the 
coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Governor Murphy issued Executive 
Order No. 112 (2020), which, among other things, directly and through waivers 
issued pursuant to its authority, waived existing practice restrictions for 
advanced practice nurses, including joint protocol and supervision 
requirements.

���� h.��� According to surveys, 
over 45 percent of advanced practice nurses in New Jersey reported working 
without practice restrictions as authorized under Executive Order No. 112 
(2020) and the waivers issued pursuant to the executive order.� No adverse 
incidents were reported during the waiver period involving advanced practice 
nurses practicing without practice restrictions.

���� i.���� Given the need for 
expanded access to care, it is necessary and appropriate to take steps to 
remove practice restrictions that serve as a barrier for advanced practice 
nurses to practice in New Jersey in certain healthcare settings to the full 
extent of their education, clinical training, and national certification.

���� 2.��� Section 1 of P.L.1947, 
c.262 (C.45:11-23) is amended to read as follows:

���� 1.��� As used in this act:

���� a.���� The words "the 
board" mean the New Jersey Board of Nursing created by this act.

���� b.��� The practice of nursing 
as a registered professional nurse is defined as diagnosing and treating human 
responses to actual or potential physical and emotional health problems, 
through such services as casefinding, health teaching, health counseling, and provision 
of care supportive to or restorative of life and well-being, and executing 
medical regimens as prescribed by a licensed or otherwise legally authorized 
physician or dentist. Diagnosing in the context of nursing practice means the 
identification of and discrimination between physical