SB1908 amends the Illinois Nurse Practice Act to expand and clarify collaboration rules for certified nurse midwives and other advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). The bill allows a certified nurse midwife with full practice authority to enter into a written collaborative agreement with another APRN, and it allows an APRN certified as a nurse midwife to collaborate with either a physician or an APRN who has full practice authority and is also a certified nurse midwife. It also specifies that, for nurse midwives seeking full practice authority, the required clinical experience must be completed in collaboration with a certified nurse midwife with full practice authority.
The bill makes conforming changes throughout the Act to align definitions and practice rules with these new collaboration pathways. It updates the definition of written collaborative agreement, revises the sections governing collaborative agreements and prescriptive authority, and preserves existing limits on APRN practice outside their scope, including the prohibition on operative surgery and the continued use of controlled-substance prescribing rules. The measure appears aimed at making the nurse-midwifery pathway more internally consistent and more flexible within the APRN framework.
Impact
SB1908 would amend Sections 50-10, 65-35, 65-40, and 65-43 of the Nurse Practice Act, changing how nurse midwives can satisfy collaboration and experience requirements and who may serve as a collaborating professional. It would broaden the list of acceptable collaborators for certified nurse midwives with full practice authority to include other APRNs, while also allowing APRN nurse midwives to complete required clinical experience under a certified nurse midwife with full practice authority. The bill would not eliminate collaboration requirements generally, but it would modify the statutory structure governing APRN practice, prescriptive authority, and full practice authority in Illinois.
Sentiment
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee testimony or votes, the available record suggests a technical, profession-specific measure rather than a broadly controversial one. The bill’s tone is regulatory and administrative, focused on clarifying licensure and collaboration rules for nurse midwives. Because there are no transcripts or voting results provided, there is no documented public sentiment in the materials beyond the bill’s apparent intent to streamline APRN practice pathways.
Contention
The main policy issue is who may legally collaborate with certified nurse midwives and who may supervise the clinical experience needed for full practice authority. Supporters would likely view the bill as expanding flexibility and recognizing APRN-to-APRN collaboration, while any critics might be concerned about loosening physician involvement in midwifery training or practice. Another possible point of contention is whether the bill changes the balance of oversight in controlled-substance prescribing or broader APRN autonomy, although the bill preserves existing practice limits and does not authorize APRNs to perform physician-only services.
Expands the existing law regarding collaborative practice agreements between pharmacists and physicians to allow other healthcare providers to enter into such agreements and removes the definition of “collaborative practice committee.”