Rules for Advanced Practice Nurses Using Doctoral Titles
March 13, 2026
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The Frame
The bill clarifies how healthcare practitioners must identify themselves to patients, ensuring that patients can distinguish between medical doctors and nurses who hold doctoral degrees in nursing or philosophy.
Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.
Advanced Practice Registered Nurses
The bill dictates the specific requirements for how these professionals may display their academic titles in advertising.
Patients
Patients are the intended audience for the required disclosures regarding the professional credentials of their healthcare providers.
Last recorded activity March 13, 2026.
Introduced.
Summary
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an APRN with a doctorate call themselves a 'doctor' in advertisements?
What happens if an APRN fails to include their nursing license in an ad using their doctoral title?
Why It Matters
The bill clarifies how healthcare practitioners must identify themselves to patients, ensuring that patients can distinguish between medical doctors and nurses who hold doctoral degrees in nursing or philosophy.
News Coverage
Voting Record
Favorable with Committee Substitute
Total
9
Yes
8
No
1
Present
0
Not Voting
0
Abstain
0
Favorable with Committee Substitute
Total
11
Yes
9
No
2
Present
0
Not Voting
0
Abstain
0
How they voted (11)
Don Gaetz
Republican · yes
Kathleen Passidomo
Republican · yes
Jay Trumbull
Republican · yes
Alexis Calatayud
Republican · yes
Colleen Burton
Republican · yes
Tracie Davis
Democratic · yes
Rosalind Osgood
Democratic · yes
Ralph Massullo
Republican · no
Tom Leek
Republican · yes
Gayle Harrell
Republican · no
Lori Berman
Democratic · yes
Sponsors
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Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Decriminalization of Title Misuse
The bill explicitly carves out violations of these new title rules from the existing criminal misdemeanor penalties for nursing title misuse, shifting the enforcement mechanism to administrative disciplinary action.
Connected Entities
Sources
openstates.org
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance45How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy30Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz10Current news / social attention level
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