2020 Georgia Code
Title 43 - Professions and Businesses
Chapter 26 - Nurses
Article 1 - Georgia Registered Professional Nurse Practice Act
§ 43-26-5. General Powers and Responsibilities of Board

1. The board shall:
   1. Be responsible for the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter and shall be specifically granted all of the necessary duties, powers, and authority to carry out this responsibility;
   2. Be authorized to draft, adopt, amend, repeal, and enforce such rules as it deems necessary for the administration and enforcement of this chapter in the protection of public health, safety, and welfare;
   3. Enforce qualifications for licensure under this article or Article 2 or Article 4 of this chapter;
   4. Develop and enforce reasonable and uniform standards for nursing education and nursing practice;
   5. Periodically evaluate nursing education programs and approve such programs as meet the board's requirements;
   6. Deny or withdraw approval from noncompliant nursing education programs;
   7. License duly qualified applicants under this article or Article 2 of this chapter by examination, endorsement, or reinstatement;
   8. Be authorized to issue temporary permits;
   9. Renew licenses of registered professional nurses, licensed undergraduate nurses, and licensed practical nurses in accordance with this article or Article 2 of this chapter;
   10. Be authorized to set standards for competency of licensees under this article or Article 2 of this chapter continuing in or returning to practice;
   11. Set standards for and regulate advanced nursing practice;
   12. Be authorized to enact rules and regulations for registered professional nurses in their performing acts under a nurse protocol as authorized in Code Section 43-34-23 and enact rules and regulations for advanced practice registered nurses in performing acts as authorized in Code Section 43-34-25;
   13. Implement the disciplinary process;
   14. Be authorized to issue orders when a license under this article or Article 2 of this chapter is surrendered to the board while a complaint, investigation, or disciplinary action against such license is pending;
   15. Issue a limited license to practice nursing or licensed practical nursing subject to such terms and conditions as the board may impose;
   16. Provide consultation and conduct conferences, forums, studies, and research on nursing education and nursing practice;
   17. Approve the selection of a qualified person to serve as executive director;
   18. Be authorized to appoint standing or ad hoc committees as necessary to inform and make recommendations to the board about issues and concerns and to facilitate communication amongst the board, licensees under this article or Article 2 of this chapter, and the community;
   19. Maintain membership in the national organization which develops and regulates the nursing licensing examination and the practical nursing licensing examination;
   20. Be authorized to collect data regarding existing nursing and licensed practical nursing resources in Georgia and coordinate planning for nursing education and nursing practice;
   21. Determine fees;
   22. Adopt a seal which shall be in the care of the executive director and shall be affixed only in such a manner as prescribed by the board;
   23. Be authorized to enforce all investigative and disciplinary orders issued by the former Georgia Board of Examiners of Licensed Practical Nurses;
   24. Issue and renew multistate licenses pursuant to Article 4 of this chapter;
   25. Take any action with respect to a multistate license issued by this state pursuant to Article 4 of this chapter and with respect to the privilege to practice in this state under a multistate license issued by another party state pursuant to the compact in Code Section 43-26-61 in the same manner as is authorized with respect to a license issued pursuant to this article or Article 2 of this chapter; and
   26. Provide notice to nurses holding multistate licenses pursuant to Article 4 of this chapter who are employed in this state and to health care providers and entities that employ such nurses that if such nurses change their primary state of residence to Georgia, they are required to apply for licensure in Georgia pursuant to the compact contained in Article 4 of this chapter.
2. The board shall be the sole professional licensing board for determining if a registered professional nurse, licensed practical nurse, or any other person has engaged illegally in the practice of nursing. If a registered professional nurse or licensed practical nurse is charged with the unauthorized practice of any other health profession by any other board, such board shall notify the Georgia Board of Nursing before conducting any hearing. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to limit any powers of any other board.
3. Chapter 1 of this title is expressly adopted and incorporated by reference into this chapter as if all the provisions of such chapter were included in this chapter.

(Code 1981, §43-26-5, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 747, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1706, § 13; Ga. L. 2006, p. 125, § 4/SB 480; Ga. L. 2009, p. 859, § 12/HB 509; Ga. L. 2013, p. 643, § 2/HB 332; Ga. L. 2015, p. 954, § 1/HB 394; Ga. L. 2017, p. 364, § 2/SB 109; Ga. L. 2019, p. 219, § 2/SB 168.)

The 2013 amendment, effective July 1, 2014, substituted "chapter" for "article" and inserted "under this article or Article 2 of this chapter" throughout this Code section; in paragraph (a)(9), substituted "nurses, licensed" for "nurses and licensed" near the beginning, inserted ", and licensed practical nurses" near the middle, and added "or Article 2 of this chapter" at the end; in paragraph (a)(15), inserted "or licensed practical nursing"; in paragraph (a)(19), added "and the practical nursing licensing examination"; in paragraph (a)(20), inserted "and licensed practical nursing"; and, in subsection (b), inserted ", licensed practical nurse," in the first sentence, and inserted "or licensed practical nurse" in the second sentence.

The 2015 amendment, effective May 6, 2015, deleted "and" following the concluding semicolon in paragraph (a)(21); added "; and" at the end of paragraph (a)(22); and added paragraph (a)(23).

The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, inserted "or Article 4" in paragraph (a)(3), deleted "and" at the end of paragraph (a)(22), added a semicolon at the end of paragraph (a)(23), and added paragraphs (a)(24) and (a)(25).

The 2019 amendment, effective April 25, 2019, deleted "and" at the end of paragraph (a)(24), substituted "; and" for a period at the end of paragraph (a)(25), and added paragraph (a)(26).

- Ga. L. 2013, p. 643, § 7/HB 332, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "For purposes of making initial appointments to the reconstituted Georgia Board of Nursing, this Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval. For all other purposes, this Act shall become effective on July 1, 2014." The Governor approved this Act on May 6, 2013.

- Rules of the profession, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rules of Georgia Board of Nursing, Chapter 410-1 et seq.

- For article on 2006 amendment of this Code section, see 23 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 209 (2006).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Selection process for executive director.

- The Secretary of State and the Georgia Board of Nursing have related but separate, distinguishable roles with respect to the selection of the executive director of the Board. The Secretary of State has the authority to select which candidate or candidates to submit to the Board for its approval, and the Board has the authority to approve who may be appointed to serve as its executive director. Only a qualified person who has been submitted for approval by the Secretary of State and approved by the Board can be appointed to serve as the Board's executive director. 2016 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 16-4.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Disqualification, for bias or interest, of member of occupation or profession sitting in license revocation proceeding, 97 A.L.R.2d 1210.

Professional incompetency as ground for disciplinary measure against physician or dentist, 28 A.L.R.3d 487.

Revocation of nurse's license to practice profession, 55 A.L.R.3d 1141.