On a quiet day in Trenton, a policy change occurred that most New Jersey residents never noticed until it began threatening Nurse Practitioner-owned medical practices across the state. This isn’t about politics. It’s about real people. At the center of this issue are Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) who supported New Jersey through COVID, established small businesses when needed, and are now suddenly facing new rules.
For nearly five years, emergency executive actions permitted Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) to operate with full practice authority when New Jersey needed every qualified provider possible. These orders made a real difference. They kept clinics open, reduced wait times, and increased access to care in communities already facing provider shortages. Patients remained cared for, and outcomes improved. By most measures, the system worked because APNs and nurses held it together.
When the public health emergency ended on January 16, 2026, which was Governor Murphy’s final day in office, those flexibilities were not made permanent. Instead, an outdated legal framework returned, along with a 30-day compliance deadline that many APNs describe as impractical and unrealistic. Practices that were established legally and transparently were suddenly told they had to either transfer ownership to a physician or shut down entirely.
One nurse practitioner’s story shows the real impact of this change.
Jenn Plescia, a double board-certified Family and Emergency nurse practitioner with a doctorate from Rutgers University and over a decade of experience in emergency and urgent care, founded IVs By The Seas in Point Pleasant. It is a wellness and aesthetics practice, as well as a small woman-owned business, an employer, and a trusted healthcare provider with hundreds of five-star patient reviews. Plescia is a mother of two young daughters. She employs ten staff members, including a pregnant employee who relies on job stability. Like many APNs, she never aimed to become a political advocate; she wanted to care for patients.
Now, she faces a tough choice no clinician should have to make: transfer ownership of her medical practice to a physician who will never see her patients or close down completely. She has stated clearly that she will shut down before relinquishing ownership of what she built. Not out of defiance, but out of principle. If she does close, the impact goes beyond her own livelihood: jobs would be lost, tax revenue would vanish, patients would lose access to care, and another woman-owned healthcare business would disappear from the community.
Zooming out, the pattern becomes strikingly clear. Industry estimates suggest New Jersey has around 1,500 nurse-operated medspas and wellness practices, with a significant majority owned by women. Nursing remains a mainly female profession, while New Jersey’s physician workforce is mostly male. Policies that force nurse owners to give up control do not exist in isolation; they disproportionately affect women who took risks, created jobs, and stepped up when the healthcare system was under immense pressure.
What’s particularly notable is that lawmakers say they were surprised by this change. Several state senators have admitted they—and likely the incoming governor—were caught off guard by the sudden 30-day deadline. One senior legislator found the timing concerning, noting that while related legislation had been known, its activation during a gubernatorial transition raised serious issues. Another legislator emphasized that the situation’s circumstances warrant examination, stating their intent to find the source of the issue and fix it, rather than overlook it.
Timing matters. Former Governor Phil Murphy signed the order on his last day in office, after years of publicly supporting expanded nursing authority during the pandemic. The new administration faces this issue along with a backlog of unresolved fiscal, infrastructure, and healthcare challenges. Even supporters of the current regulations agree that widespread clinic closures would strain access to care for Medicaid patients that are heavily reliant upon APNs, increase unemployment, reduce state tax revenue and reduce access to timely care—especially in women’s health, behavioral health, addiction treatment, and outpatient services where APNs play a crucial role.
None of this should be political. More than two-thirds of U.S. states allow nurse practitioners to work independently within their education and licensure scope. New Jersey already tested this model under crisis conditions—and it worked.
This is why Senate Bill S2996 is important. It would modernize outdated laws, bring New Jersey in line with successful national standards, and provide stability instead of uncertainty. For APNs like Jenn Plescia, it represents the difference between continuing to serve their communities and dismantling the very practices designed to do so.
There is still time to act, but it needs immediate public attention. Respectful calls to legislative leadership, especially to Senate President Nicholas Scutari’s office, can help advance the conversation. Constituents are encouraged to ask for support in moving S2996 forward and demanding permanent full practice authority for APNs, so that access to quality, affordable healthcare doesn’t suffer due to bureaucratic changes. The deadline for APN-owned businesses is 16 February, readers are urged to contact representatives immediately. New Jersey prides itself on resilience, fairness, and common sense. The APNs at the heart of this issue embody those values. The question now is whether the state will support them or allow silence to determine their future.
Links:
IVs By The Seas Instagram
IVs By The Seas Website
https://www.ivsbytheseas.com/
Executive Order 102:
https://www.nj.gov/infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-102.pdf
Executive Order 112:
https://www.nj.gov/infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-112.pdf
Executive Order 292:
https://nj.gov/infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-292.pdfExecutive Order 415:
https://nj.gov/infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-415.pdf
IVs By The Seas Statement:
https://www.ivsbytheseas.com/help
Senate Bill S2996:
https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2026/S2996
Sign 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
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