Guidelines and Recommendations for New Jersey
In New Jersey, guidelines and recommendations for practitioners are approved by the state’s Division of Consumer Affairs and are in open access in their recourses. The organization responsible for developing the documentation is the Health Care Association of New Jersey (HCANJ), a non-profit task group of long-term medical workers (Health Care Association of New Jersey [HCANJ], n. d.). On website, various recourses for practitioners are listed, including the Pain Management Guideline. The recommendations were developed to address the pain assessment, tools, treatment, pharmacological intervention, education, and quality improvement (HCANJ, n. d.). The guideline is based on current legislation for practitioners’ prescribing rights and evidence from healthcare-related studies and experiences.
Another organization involved in combatting the opioid epidemic in New Jersey is the Academy of Family Physicians (NJAFP). Their mission is to improve family health care via proper education for providers; thus, their website includes a broad scope of learning sources and guidelines for pain management and prescription regulation (New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians [NJAFP], n. d.). NJAFP’s recourses explain the state’s legislation for opioid use and include the strategies to maximize benefits in treatment considering the current evidence and limitations.
The use of opioids is appropriate for severe and chronic pain management, and states developed their regulations to help practitioners assess patient conditions and make the correct prescription. However, there is no approved evidence suggesting that the limitation on drug use does not harm individuals because there are thousands of cases where patients suffer from pain requiring more opioids than legally appropriate (Moride et al., 2019). According to New Jersey’s guidelines, opioids should be prescribed for acute pain, in the smallest dose and for the shortest period possible (HCANJ, n. d.). Practitioners’ choice depends on the diagnosis, pain assessment, and overall patient conditions; their main aim is to address all risks of long-term opioid use.
New Jersey Laws on Controlled Substance Prescribing for The Nurse Practitioner
In New Jersey, the Administrative Code’s Title 13 regulates the advanced practice nurses (APNs) rights and outlines the limitations. The statute (n. d.) states that “an APN has prescriptive authority and is required to have a joint protocol with a collaborating physician licensed in New Jersey, prior to prescribing any medication or device” (p. 62). Another chapter of the state’s Administrative Code, developed by the Board of Nursing, describes Schedule I-V controlled substances regulations. For instance, Schedule II drug prescriptions cannot be refilled, while Schedule III and IV are allowed to be re-prescribed up to five times within six months (New Jersey Administrative Code, n. d). The prescription conditions are also listed in the regulation, divided by their Schedule, and include a description of the collaboration between pharmacies and practitioners.
The documentation requirements are crucial for the legislator and evidence of correct use of opioids; thus, multiple regulations exist to manage practitioners in this aspect. An APN must fill out the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) database form and make a pain-management agreement for a patient to sign, where conditions, treatment plan, and alternatives are outlined (New Jersey Administrative Code, n. d.). New Jersey’s PMP work is based on the daily reports provided by the state’s pharmacies, and the data from there must match the patient information and prescription practitioner used in their documentation (New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, n. d.). The practitioners may also be asked to fill the forms in the PMP to receive approvals before assigning a drug with the selected dosage and treatment period.
New Jersey Prescription Drug Monitoring Program
New Jersey’s Prescription Monitoring Program includes databases and recourses, such as prescription blanks and report templates for pharmacies and health care organizations. The state’s regulators developed the Drug Control Unit Reporting System (DCURS) to merge all the related documentation and operations, and it can be used at website (New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, n. d.). The system is accessible only after the registration at the PMP AWARxE program by providing professional license, Federal DEA, and NJ State CDS Registration numbers (New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, n. d.). The database is reliable because all contributors are validated and convenient to use because it is updated daily. The standard for practitioners and pharmacies to fill the forms makes the PMP a valuable source of information about the drugs’ availability, prescription statistics, and regulation to notice and address overuse.
New Jersey Laws on Medical Devices Prescribing for The Nurse Practitioner
Medical devices prescribed for nurse practitioners in New Jersey are possible if they are certified by the state’s Board of Nursing and comply with the current regulations. Indeed, according to New Jersey’s Administrative Code, APNs with full license and joint protocol collaboration with a physician has the authority to prescribe medical devices from the registered suppliers (New Jersey Administrative Code, n. d.). The regulations for providers are outlined in paragraphs 10:54-5.30, and the prescription rights are merged with the substance-related legislation in chapter 37 of the Code. There are no specific conditions and documentation required from APNs to prescribe DME; however, the suppliers must be certified by the state’s Medical Assistance Customer Center to work with health care organizations (New Jersey Administrative Code, n. d.). Medical device prescription authority is essential for New Jersey’s advanced nurse practitioners because it positively impacts healthcare quality and expands the treatment options.
References
Health Care Association of New Jersey. (n. d.). Pain management guideline.
Moride, Y., Lemieux-Uresandi, D., Castillon, G., De Moura, C. S., Pilote, L., Faure, M., & Bernartsky, S. (2019). A systematic review of interventions and programs targeting appropriate prescribing of opioids.Pain Physician, 22(3), 229-240.
New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians. (n. d.). What you need to know about new prescribing laws for the treatment of acute and chronic pain.
New Jersey Administrative Code. (n. d.). New Jersey Board of Nursing.
New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. (n. d.). New Jersey Prescription Monitoring Program (NJPMP).