The New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee held a hearing on Senate Bill 1522 to eliminate certain practice restrictions for advance practice nurses (APN). The legislation would effectively grant independent practice for APNs in all specialty areas and all settings by removing the joint protocol agreement for prescribing and collaboration requirements for APNs with over 2 years or 2,400 hours practice.  The bill also allows new APNs to collaborate with another APN to totally remove physicians.

NJ-ACEP welcomes new leadership which includes the following:

President: Patrick Hinfey, MD, FACEP

President-Elect: Michael Ruzek, DO, FACEP

Secretary: Jessica Maye, DO, FACEP

Treasurer: Tanisha Arora, MD, FACEP

Immediate Past President: Jenice Baker, MD, FACEP

    click READ MORE for a full list of the Board of Directors

The Chapter has worked closely with the ACEP Bylaws Committee to revise our bylaws in accordance with ACEP's recommendations.  The majority of the changes found are formatting and grammatical, but the following procedural changes are also included: 

1. Identifying rights of Candidate members, Article III (3)
2. Adding Cancellation/Limitation of Member Rights and Privileges, Article III (5)
3. Adding Remote Communication Technology wording, Article V (5) and Article VI (9)
4. Outlining the Nomination and Election procedures for the Board of Directors, Article VI (4A) (4B)
5. Outlining succession of Officers, Article VII (1) and the Nomination and Election procedure, Article VII (2)
6. Identifying how to break a tie vote for the Board of Directors, Article VII (3)
7. Removing the Alternate Councillor limit to equal the number of Councillors, Article VIII (3)
8.  Creating Executive and Nominating Committees, Article IX

You can find the marked up version here and the final version here.  The acceptance of these changes are included on the 2022 ballot sent to the regular membership on March 18.  The ballot will close on May 18. 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Many emergency departments are at capacity due to high COVID case counts, staffing challenges and increasing demand for testing. The Omicron variant is extremely contagious and that makes it important for everyone to get vaccinated and know when to go to the emergency department for COVID concerns, according to the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP).

“Emergency departments in many communities are stretching to their limits,” said Gillian Schmitz, MD, FACEP, president of ACEP. “You can be sure that an emergency physician is ready to care for anyone who needs immediate medical attention. Whether it’s COVID-related or not, do not ignore the signs of an emergency. But, for those seeking routine COVID tests, it may be more efficient to visit a testing site or take a test at home.”

Emergency physicians continue to voice concerns about capacity issues and resource constraints. One way to ease the strain on health systems is to recognize when to treat a potential case of COVID-19 at home, and when to seek emergency care. “Fortunately for those who are vaccinated, many of the symptoms that distinguish the Omicron variant appear to be mild and can be monitored and managed at home,” said Dr. Schmitz.

Congratulations to Dr. Rebecca Dupree of Community Medical Center for winning the 3rd Annual Residents Competition for her talk, Lightning Strike Management!  The competition was held in conjunction with the NJ-ACEP 2021 Scientific Assembly held on September 29, 2021 at the Crowne Plaza Princeton Conference Center.