A new bill introduced in Illinois would remove the need for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) to have a consultation relationship with a physician when prescribing Schedule II controlled substances. This bill, Senate Bill 105 (SB 105), is sponsored by Senator Sara Feingenholtz. The bill has had its first reading and awaits assignment to a committee for further deliberation.
Currently, APRNs in Illinois are able to practice independently after a period of supervision. Once they have completed 4,000 hours of supervised practice, they no longer require a written agreement with a physician to practice or to prescribe most medications. However, they do need to maintain a consultation relationship with a physician to prescribe Schedule II narcotic drugs. Under SB 105, this requirement would go away and APRNs would be able to prescribe all prescription drugs, including controlled substances from Schedule II to V. The other significant change that SB 105 would bring is removing the need to have the supervising physicians certify that the APRN has completed the practice requirements for full practice authority.
Greater practice independence has been the biggest trend in APRN practice for the last several years. Illinois already allows for what would be considered independent practice. Here, we see that this is not necessarily the end state. Frequently, states will pass new laws aimed at further refining or reducing the practice requirement for advanced practitioners, even after the largest requirements have been addressed. Here, SB 105 would take Illinois APRNs from mostly independent to fully independent.
We will be monitoring SB 105 as it works its way through Illinois’s legislative process this year.