I need to be very clear about how New Jersey arrived at this second, as a result of what we’re seeing now is just not an accident, and it’s not the results of confusion. It’s the results of choices—some made, and a few prevented.
In February and March of 2020, then–Governor Phil Murphy signed Government Order No. 103, declaring a COVID-19 public well being emergency and state of emergency. The intent was applicable and vital. New Jersey was dealing with an unprecedented disaster, and EO-103 grew to become the authorized basis that allowed the healthcare system to outlive. Below that authority, Superior Observe Nurses had been permitted to observe with full observe 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 is just not everlasting. Below New Jersey regulation, emergency declarations are structured to run out or transition. Government Order 103 was at all times 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 supposed lifespan, or he did not act on a accountability that instantly affected 1000’s of healthcare suppliers and small companies. Neither clarification is suitable.
What is clear is that this: on his closing day in workplace, Governor Murphy signed Government Order No. 415, rescinding EO-103 and imposing a exhausting expiration date of February 16, 2026, with a 30-day compliance window. That timing is just not coincidental. It was a deliberate act that shifted the results of years of inaction onto the following administration—and onto the suppliers who had operated legally, transparently, and on the State’s request for practically 5 years.
The consequence was instant chaos.
Small healthcare companies—a lot of them woman-owned, minority-owned, and nurse-led—had been out of the blue informed they have to restructure possession, safe doctor management that had by no means been required through the emergency, or shut their doorways completely. These weren’t unsafe practices. These weren’t unhealthy actors. These had been the identical suppliers New Jersey relied on throughout its most susceptible second.
Governor Mikie Sherrill inherited this disaster on day one.
That issues, as a result of management is usually revealed not by the issues somebody creates, however by how they reply to the issues they inherit. Government Order No. 7, signed right now by Governor Sherrill, is a reassuring and accountable response.
EO-7 locations a 90-day pause on the proposal, adoption, and implementation of latest state company guidelines and laws. Its function is express: to permit time for assessment, assess financial and workforce impacts, and forestall unintended hurt to small companies and important companies throughout a interval of transition.
That language is just not generic. It instantly addresses the uncertainty now dealing with APN-led practices.
EO-7 doesn’t retroactively prolong emergency authority. Nobody is asking for that. What it does do—lawfully and deliberately—is create room for administrative discretion, enforcement restraint, and considerate assessment 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 Observe 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 folks. They help households. They supply care. They usually deserve continuity—not punishment—for answering the decision when New Jersey wanted them most.
The risk they face right now 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 provides 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 main care, behavioral well being companies, girls’s well being, dependancy remedy, 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 are 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 observe underneath probably the most demanding situations possible—however they thrived. EO-7 indicators that the brand new administration understands that lesson. It creates a bridge between emergency authority and everlasting reform. It provides lawmakers and businesses the possibility to align the regulation with actuality, moderately 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 could be clear: apply EO-7 in a approach that protects present APN-led practices, workout routines enforcement restraint through the assessment interval, and advances everlasting statutory reform that displays what New Jersey already is aware of—that nurses and nurse practitioners are usually not expendable pawns. They’re the cornerstone of this state’s healthcare system.
There may be cause to be hopeful. Progress has begun. The selection now could be whether or not New Jersey will end the work—or permit the harm of the previous to outline its future.
Hyperlinks:
IVs By The Seas Web site
https://www.ivsbytheseas.com/
Government Order 102:
https://www.nj.gov/infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-102.pdf
Government Order 112:
https://www.nj.gov/infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-112.pdf
Government Order 292:
https://nj.gov/infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-292.pdfGovernment 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
