GA Code § 43-26-3 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 43 - Professions and Businesses|Chapter 26 - Nurses|Article 1 - Georgia Registered Professional Nurse Practice Act|§ 43-26-3. (See Editor's notes.) Definitions

 As used in this article, the term:    "Advanced nursing practice" means practice by a registered professional nurse who is licensed by the board under this article or who holds a multistate license under Article 4 of this chapter who meets those educational, practice, certification requirements, or any combination of such requirements as specified by the board, and includes certified nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse anesthetists, clinical nurse specialists in psychiatric/mental health, and others recognized by the board.  (1.1) "Advanced practice registered nurse" means a registered professional nurse who is licensed by the board under this article or who holds a multistate license under Article 4 of this chapter, who is recognized by the board as having met the requirements established by the board to engage in advanced nursing practice, and who holds a master's degree or other graduate degree from an approved nursing education program and national board certification in his or her area of specialty, or a person who was recognized as an advanced practice registered nurse by the board on or before June 30, 2006. This paragraph shall not be construed to require a certified registered nurse anesthetist who graduated from an approved nurse anesthetist educational program prior to January 1, 1999, to hold a master's degree or other graduate degree. Further, this paragraph shall not be construed to require a registered professional nurse who holds a multistate license under Article 4 of this chapter authorizing such nurse to practice in another party state under a multistate licensure privilege to obtain a single-state license from the board as a condition of receiving authorization by the board to practice in this state as an advanced practice registered nurse.   (1.2) "Approved nursing education program" located in this state means a nursing education program approved by the board as meeting criteria established by the board. An "approved nursing education program" located outside this state means a nursing education program that the board has determined to meet criteria similar to and not less stringent than criteria established by the board for nursing education programs located in this state. In order to be approved by the board, a nursing education program must be one that is offered by:    A unit of the University System of Georgia accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools;   An institution of the Technical College System of Georgia accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools;   A postsecondary institution of higher education that is accredited by a regional accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education; or   A postsecondary institution of higher education that is not accredited in accordance with subparagraph (C) of this paragraph, but whose curriculum has been determined by the board to meet criteria similar to and not less stringent than criteria established by the board for other approved nursing education programs.     "Board" means the Georgia Board of Nursing created in Code Section 43-26-4.   "Consumer member" means a United States citizen and Georgia resident who is knowledgeable about consumer health concerns, does not derive that person's primary livelihood from the practice of nursing, and shall neither be, nor ever have been, a health care provider or enrolled in any health related educational program.   "License" means a current document, issued by the board, permitting a person to practice nursing as a registered professional nurse or a licensed undergraduate nurse. This term shall also include a multistate license issued by another state in accordance with Article 4 of this chapter permitting a person to practice nursing as a registered professional nurse in this state under a multistate licensure privilege.   "Licensure" means the bestowing of a current license by the board permitting a person to practice nursing as a registered professional nurse or a licensed undergraduate nurse.   "Practice nursing" or "practice of nursing" means to perform for compensation or the performance for compensation of any act in the care and counsel of the ill, injured, or infirm, and in the promotion and maintenance of health with individuals, groups, or both throughout the life span. It requires substantial specialized knowledge of the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and nursing theory as a basis for assessment, nursing diagnosis, planning, intervention, and evaluation. It includes, but is not limited to, provision of nursing care; administration, supervision, evaluation, or any combination thereof, of nursing practice; teaching; counseling; and the administration of medications and treatments as prescribed by a physician practicing medicine in accordance with Article 2 of Chapter 34 of this title, a dentist practicing dentistry in accordance with Chapter 11 of this title, or a podiatrist practicing podiatry in accordance with Chapter 35 of this title.   "Practice nursing as a licensed undergraduate nurse" means to practice nursing by performing for compensation selected acts in the care of the ill, injured, or infirm under the direction of a registered professional nurse, a physician practicing medicine in accordance with Article 2 of Chapter 34 of this title, a dentist practicing dentistry in accordance with Chapter 11 of this title, or a podiatrist practicing podiatry in accordance with Chapter 35 of this title.   "Practice nursing as a registered professional nurse" means to practice nursing by performing for compensation any of the following:   Assessing the health status of individuals, groups, or both throughout the life span;   Establishing a nursing diagnosis;   Establishing nursing goals to meet identified health care needs;   Planning, implementing, and evaluating nursing care;   Providing for safe and effective nursing care rendered directly or indirectly;   Managing and supervising the practice of nursing;   Collaborating with other members of the health care team in the management of care;   Teaching the theory and practice of nursing;   Administering, ordering, and dispensing medications, diagnostic studies, and medical treatments authorized by protocol, when such acts are authorized by other general laws and such acts are in conformity with those laws;   Administering medications and treatments as prescribed by a physician practicing medicine in accordance with Article 2 of Chapter 34 of this title, a dentist practicing dentistry in accordance with Chapter 11 of this title, or a podiatrist practicing podiatry in accordance with Chapter 35 of this title; or   Performing any other nursing act in the care and counsel of the ill, injured, or infirm, and in the promotion and maintenance of health with individuals, groups, or both throughout the life span.     "Registered professional nurse" means a person who is authorized by a license issued under this article to practice nursing as a registered professional nurse.     (Code 1981, §43-26-3, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 747, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 97, § 43; Ga. L. 2006, p. 125, § 3/SB 480; Ga. L. 2007, p. 460, § 1/SB 222; Ga. L. 2009, p. 210, § 1/HB 475; Ga. L. 2011, p. 779, § 1/SB 100; Ga. L. 2012, p. 19, § 1/HB 675; Ga. L. 2019, p. 219, § 1/SB 168; Ga. L. 2021, p. 922, § 43/HB 497.)    The 2019 amendment,  effective April 25, 2019, in paragraph (1), inserted "who is licensed by the board under this article or who holds a multistate license under Article 4 of this chapter" near the beginning, deleted the comma following "such requirements", and inserted the comma following "specified by the board" in the middle; in paragraph (1.1), substituted "nurse who is licensed by the board under this article or who holds a multistate license under Article 4 of this chapter," for "nurse licensed under this chapter" near the middle of the first sentence, and added the last sentence; and added the second sentence in paragraph (4).    The 2021 amendment,  effective May 10, 2021, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, in paragraph (6), in the third sentence, substituted "counseling; and the" for "counseling; the" in the middle, and substituted "a dentist" for "or a dentist" near the end.   Code Commission notes.   - Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2007, "specialty" was substituted for "speciality" in paragraph (1.1).   For application of this statute in 2021, see Executive Order 01.22.21.07.   A listing of Executive Orders issued in 2021 can be found at https://gov.georgia.gov/executive-action/executive-orders.   Law reviews.   - For article on 2006 amendment of this Code section, see 23 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 209 (2006).   JUDICIAL DECISIONS   Definition of practice of nursing.    - Administration of doctors' orders regarding medication is the province of registered nurses; in fact, O.C.G.A. § 43-26-3 (6) specifically includes within the definition of the practice of nursing "the administration of medication and treatments as prescribed by a physician practicing medicine". Nowak v. High, 209 Ga. App. 536, 433 S.E.2d 602 (1993).   Administration of medication.    - Trial court properly dismissed a wrongful death claim by a deceased nursing home resident's children, alleging that the nursing home staff failed to administer properly the resident's medications, as such task involved the professional skill and judgment of a nurse, and nurses were licensed professionals with specialized knowledge pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 43-26-3(6) to which O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1 explicitly applied; as the children failed to comply with the expert affidavit requirement, dismissal of that aspect of the claim was proper. Williams v. Alvista Healthcare Ctr., Inc., 283 Ga. App. 613, 642 S.E.2d 232 (2007).    Trial court erred in denying a hospital's motion to dismiss a medical malpractice complaint in a simple negligence action after the complainant failed to attach an expert witness affidavit pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1, as a nurse's administration of medication to a patient, which was the subject matter of the suit, involved professional skill and judgment to comply with a standard within the professional's area of expertise. Grady Gen. Hosp. v. King, 288 Ga. App. 101, 653 S.E.2d 367 (2007).   Expert's allegations of standard of care pertained to conduct beyond the scope of nursing care and was excluded.    - In a medical malpractice case against a hospital and emergency room doctor and nurses, expert testimony against the nurses was properly excluded under O.C.G.A. § 24-7-702 because the deviations from the standard of care alleged pertained to conduct that was beyond the scope of nursing care allowed by Georgia law under O.C.G.A. § 43-26-3(8) (defining the practice of nursing). Everson v. Phoebe Sumter Med. Ctr., Inc., 341 Ga. App. 182, 798 S.E.2d 667 (2017).   OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL   Access to Georgia Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.   - Registered nurses and licensed practical nurses cannot access the GAPDMP database as dispensers or as practitioners authorized to dispense under the Georgia Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, but nurses may be able to access the GAPDMP database as delegates of physicians who do have the authority to prescribe or dispense. 2016 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 16-7.