New Jersey governs moderate sedation in the office through a regulation, not a position statement. N.J.A.C. 13:35-4A.10 is a Board of Medical Examiners rule written in “shall”. For the registered nurse it is narrow: an RN or physician assistant may give only a supplemental dose, through an established IV line, of a sedative the physician selected and started, and must be “trained and has experience in the use and monitoring of anesthetic agents” ((a)3).
New Jersey at a glance
| Board | State of New Jersey (Board of Medical Examiners). The section’s own text names no board; it refers to “the Board” as a body that privileges practitioners ((a)1). |
| Document | N.J.A.C. 13:35-4A.10, “Administration of moderate sedation; authorized personnel” — one section of the New Jersey Administrative Code in five subsections, (a) to (e), plus history notes; read in Cornell LII’s copy (law.cornell.edu), last amended effective 12/6/2021. Citations on this page are to those subsections. |
| Rule it is | N.J.A.C. 13:35-4A.10 itself. It cross-refers to N.J.A.C. 13:35-4A.12, under which “a hospital or the Board” privileges a practitioner to provide moderate sedation ((a)1). |
| Status | A regulation with mandatory language, not guidance. Each of its five subsections is a “shall”: moderate sedation “shall be administered in an office only by the following individuals” ((a)); an ACLS-trained physician, RN or PA “shall be present at all times” ((e)); (b), (c) and (d) read the same way. |
| Dates | As the notes list them: an amendment in 2002, an “Administrative correction” (35 N.J.R. 1936(a)), and an amendment at 53 N.J.R. 2013(a), “effective 12/6/2021” — the latest entry. An earlier line reads “Public Notice: Suspension of enforcement. See: 30 N.J.R. 4485(b)”, which the document does not explain. |
| Who it covers | Moderate sedation “in an office” ((a), (b)). Three may administer it: a practitioner privileged “to provide moderate sedation” who keeps up the (a)1 CME; a CRNA supervised by a physician qualified under (a)1 ((a)2); and an RN or PA “trained and has experience in the use and monitoring of anesthetic agents” ((a)3), for a supplemental dose only. Monitoring: a physician, CRNA, or an RN or PA with “training and experience in the use of monitoring devices”, supervised by an (a)1 physician ((b)). |
| Who it does not cover | Not stated as such — the word “only” ((a)) excludes everyone the section does not list. It says nothing about licensed practical nurses, about deep sedation or general anesthesia, or about any setting other than an office (“a hospital” appears only as a body that grants privileges, (a)1). |
| Settings the document names | “in an office” ((a), (b)); “the procedure room” ((a)3); “radiological procedures” ((a)3); “the surgery or special procedure” ((c)). No other setting is named. |
| Re-verification interval | Physician: eight CME hours in “every consecutive three-year period beginning July 1, 2004” ((a)1). RN or PA: none stated — (a)3 asks for someone who “is trained and has experience”, (b) for someone who “has training and experience”, and no interval, renewal or re-check is attached to either. |
| Where the record lives | Not stated — the section does not say where training, experience or CME is documented or who keeps it. Privileges come from “a hospital or the Board pursuant to N.J.A.C. 13:35-4A.12” ((a)1), the only record-holder it names. |
| CE hours | Physician: eight Category I or II CME hours per consecutive three-year period “in any anesthesia services, including moderate sedation exclusively”, or in anesthesia as it relates to the physician’s field — hours that either count towards the AMA’s Physician’s Recognition Award or are approved by the American Osteopathic Association ((a)1). RN or PA: no contact-hour count or CE requirement is stated. |
What the Board of Medical Examiners’ regulation says
Moderate sedation “shall be administered in an office only” ((a)) by a privileged practitioner ((a)1), a CRNA supervised by such a physician ((a)2), or an RN or PA acting “at the specific direction of a physician qualified under (a)1 above” ((a)3). The nurse’s clause is the one this page is about:
“who is trained and has experience in the use and monitoring of anesthetic agents”
State of New Jersey (Board of Medical Examiners) — N.J.A.C. 13:35-4A.10(a)3 (amended effective 12/6/2021)
That clause comes with a hard limit. The RN or PA acts “but only for the purpose of administering through an established intravenous line, a specifically prescribed supplemental dose of moderate sedation” ((a)3) — one the physician selected, started and stays in the room for. One qualification attaches to that continuous presence: it does not require the practitioner to remain in the room in violation of the human exposure safety standards regularly employed during radiological procedures ((a)3).
Read the primary source → (Cornell LII’s copy; New Jersey publishes its code through LexisNexis, not on a state website.) The State’s own text is the Board’s 12/6/2021 adoption notice, 53 N.J.R. 2013(a), which prints (a)2 as unchanged: New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, PDF p. 118 →
Three lines the regulation draws
The monitor must meet (b) and be someone “who is at all times present and who is not the practitioner who is performing the surgery or special procedure” ((c)). When a CRNA administers and monitors, or an RN or PA monitors, “the supervising physician shall be physically present, but may be concurrently responsible for patient care” ((d)). And an advanced cardiac life support-trained “physician, registered nurse, or physician assistant shall be present at all times when a patient is receiving or recovering from” moderate sedation ((e)) — at least one such person, not ACLS for everyone on the team.
What a New Jersey facility should be able to show
Read as a records list, the section asks an office practice for three things:
- The physician’s privileges and CME record — privileges from “a hospital or the Board pursuant to N.J.A.C. 13:35-4A.12” and eight anesthesia CME hours per consecutive three-year period ((a)1) — plus the ACLS training record of whichever physician, RN or PA fills the (e) role; the rule attaches no currency or renewal wording to it.
- Per-nurse evidence of training in the use and monitoring of anesthetic agents — the (a)3 condition on any RN or PA who administers a supplemental dose. The rule pairs training with experience; your record should show both.
- Per-nurse evidence of training in the use of monitoring devices — the (b) condition on any RN or PA who monitors, again paired with experience. Because of (c), that is a record for every RN or PA who may be assigned to monitor, not only for whoever gives the drug.
The CSRN™ course — 10 CE contact hours developed and delivered by Capt. M. Ron Eslinger, CRNA, with module exams, case studies and a certificate ID your credentialing office can verify — is built to be records 2 and 3 on that list. Facility seats and roster tracking →
Questions New Jersey facilities ask
Does New Jersey set a renewal interval for nurse sedation training?
No. The only interval in the rule is the physician’s: eight Category I or II CME hours in “every consecutive three-year period beginning July 1, 2004” ((a)1). For the RN or PA it requires training and experience with anesthetic agents ((a)3) and with monitoring devices ((b)) and attaches no interval, renewal or re-check to either. The interval you write into your policy is your own.
Does New Jersey require the CSRN™ course specifically?
No. The rule names no sedation course, and no state mandates this specific one. It requires an RN or PA “who is trained and has experience in the use and monitoring of anesthetic agents” ((a)3) and, for monitoring, “training and experience in the use of monitoring devices” ((b)), without defining what evidence of training looks like. CSRN™ is designed to serve as that evidence — a named credential, assessed competency and an employer-verifiable certificate ID; the experience half is yours to document.
Can a New Jersey office RN start or titrate moderate sedation?
Start, no; titrate, only in the narrow sense (a)3 allows — a specifically prescribed supplemental dose, through an established IV line, of a sedative the physician selected and started, and only “at the specific direction of a physician qualified under (a)1 above” ((a)3). The full conditions are quoted above. The nurse’s other role under the section is monitoring, under (b), (c) and (d).
Compliance note (last reviewed September 2026): This page is educational information about N.J.A.C. 13:35-4A.10, not legal advice or a compliance determination. Every quotation was checked word-for-word on 2026-09-01 against Cornell LII’s copy of the regulation, last amended effective 12/6/2021, and against the section as printed in the Board’s adoption notice of that date (53 N.J.R. 2013(a)); subsection letters refer to that text. Regulations are amended; confirm the current text and your own facility policy before relying on this summary. No state mandates this specific course.