I need to be very clear about how New Jersey arrived at this second, as a result of what we’re seeing now shouldn’t be an accident, and it isn’t the results of confusion. It’s the results of selections—some made, and a few prevented.
In February and March of 2020, then–Governor Phil Murphy signed Govt Order No. 103, declaring a COVID-19 public well being emergency and state of emergency. The intent was acceptable and crucial. New Jersey was going through an unprecedented disaster, and EO-103 grew to become the authorized basis that allowed the healthcare system to outlive. Beneath that authority, Superior Follow Nurses had been permitted to apply with full apply autonomy, clinics stayed open, and entry to care was preserved whereas hospitals had been overwhelmed.
Then, that system labored, and subsequently, the State relied on it, suppliers relied on it, and sufferers relied on it.
Regardless, emergency authority shouldn’t be everlasting. Beneath New Jersey regulation, emergency declarations are structured to run out or transition. Govt Order 103 was all the time momentary. By regulation, it ought to have phased out earlier than 2026—however it didn’t.
Governor Murphy was conscious of that actuality. And if he was not, then that failure itself deserves scrutiny. Both the Governor knew EO-103 had exceeded its meant lifespan, or he did not act on a duty that immediately affected hundreds of healthcare suppliers and small companies. Neither rationalization is appropriate.
What is clear is that this: on his remaining day in workplace, Governor Murphy signed Govt Order No. 415, rescinding EO-103 and imposing a arduous expiration date of February 16, 2026, with a 30-day compliance window. That timing shouldn’t be coincidental. It was a deliberate act that shifted the results of years of inaction onto the subsequent administration—and onto the suppliers who had operated legally, transparently, and on the State’s request for almost 5 years.
The outcome was fast chaos.
Small healthcare companies—lots of them woman-owned, minority-owned, and nurse-led—had been out of the blue informed they need to restructure possession, safe doctor management that had by no means been required through the emergency, or shut their doorways totally. These weren’t unsafe practices. These weren’t dangerous actors. These had been the identical suppliers New Jersey relied on throughout its most weak second.
Governor Mikie Sherrill inherited this disaster on day one.
That issues, as a result of management is commonly revealed not by the issues somebody creates, however by how they reply to the issues they inherit. Govt Order No. 7, signed as we speak by Governor Sherrill, is a reassuring and accountable response.
EO-7 locations a 90-day pause on the proposal, adoption, and implementation of recent state company guidelines and laws. Its goal is specific: to permit time for overview, assess financial and workforce impacts, and forestall unintended hurt to small companies and important providers throughout a interval of transition.
That language shouldn’t be generic. It immediately addresses the uncertainty now going through APN-led practices.
EO-7 doesn’t retroactively lengthen emergency authority. Nobody is asking for that. What it does do—lawfully and deliberately—is create room for administrative discretion, enforcement restraint, and considerate overview whereas everlasting legislative options are developed. That’s precisely what accountable governance appears like.
For practices like IVs By The Seas, a small, woman-owned healthcare enterprise based by a doctorately ready Superior Follow Nurse, EO-7 represents one thing profoundly vital: acknowledgment. Recognition that these companies didn’t seem in a single day. They had been constructed underneath a state-authorized framework. They make use of individuals. They help households. They supply care. And so they deserve continuity—not punishment—for answering the decision when New Jersey wanted them most.
The risk they face as we speak doesn’t come from new regulation. It comes from an abrupt reversion to an outdated framework, made worse by the compressed timeline imposed on the very finish of the prior administration. EO-7 offers the State an opportunity to interrupt that hurt—not by ignoring the regulation, however by making use of it with judgment, proportionality, and care.
There are roughly 1,500 nurse-operated clinics and medspas throughout New Jersey, and roughly 70% are owned by girls. They supply major care, behavioral well being providers, girls’s well being, dependancy therapy, and restoration help. In the event that they shut, sufferers don’t disappear. They wait longer, journey farther, or find yourself in emergency rooms which might be already stretched skinny.
This isn’t about politics or skilled competitors. It’s about equity, reliance, and entry to care.
New Jersey already examined expanded APN apply underneath probably the most demanding situations conceivable—however they thrived. EO-7 alerts that the brand new administration understands that lesson. It creates a bridge between emergency authority and everlasting reform. It offers lawmakers and businesses the possibility to align the regulation with actuality, somewhat than permitting silence and deadlines dictated by outdated deadlines to dismantle what has already confirmed efficient.
Governor Murphy left behind a deadline. Governor Sherrill has responded with management.
The answer now’s clear: apply EO-7 in a approach that protects current APN-led practices, workouts enforcement restraint through the overview interval, and advances everlasting statutory reform that displays what New Jersey already is aware of—that nurses and nurse practitioners should not expendable pawns. They’re the cornerstone of this state’s healthcare system.
There may be motive to be hopeful. Progress has begun. The selection now’s whether or not New Jersey will end the work—or enable the harm of the previous to outline its future.
Hyperlinks:
IVs By The Seas Web site
https://www.ivsbytheseas.com/
Govt Order 102:
https://www.nj.gov/infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-102.pdf
Govt Order 112:
https://www.nj.gov/infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-112.pdf
Govt Order 292:
https://nj.gov/infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-292.pdfGovt Order 415:
https://nj.gov/infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-415.pdf
IVs By The Seas Assertion:
https://www.ivsbytheseas.com/assist
Senate Invoice S2996:
https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2026/S2996
Signal Petition:
https://www.change.org/p/make-advanced-practice-nurse-expansions-permanent-in-new-jersey?recruiter=1399726772&recruited_by_id=4be3afc0-f55a-11f0-977e-c93b6bd8dc9d&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=starter_onboarding_share_personal&utm_medium=copylink
