Protocol · RN · Georgia
Practice Protocol for Registered Nurses in Georgia
Registered Nurses practice independently in Georgia. A practice protocol is voluntary; here is what one covers and what the state does require.
FULL for general nursing scope (O.C.G.A. § 43-26-3) — no ongoing physician oversight required for RN practice itself. SUPERVISED_ONLY carve-out for medical-aesthetic procedures (Botox/fillers): a Board of Nursing position statement (Apr. 2024) requires an individualized physician/NP/PA order plus a personal H&P — standing orders are explicitly NOT sufficient.
What a voluntary Registered Nurse protocol covers in Georgia
Georgia requires no written protocol for registered nurses. These are the clauses a practice includes when it chooses to put one in writing. The Georgia Board of Nursing governs registered nurses here.
The Registered Nurse ("RN") shall practice under the individualized orders of the Physician, consistent with the Georgia Registered Professional Nurse Practice Act, O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 26, Article 1. Unlike the Nurse Protocol Agreement required of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, Georgia law does not require a Board-filed protocol for this Registered Nurse's general scope of practice; the Physician shall instead be available to the Registered Nurse for consultation regarding clinical and patient care issues arising under those orders.
- A voluntary protocol also carries 2 scope, 2 education and 2 registration clauses, authored in the document itself.
What Georgia does require
The supervision and prescribing rules that apply to registered nurses regardless of any protocol.
Proximity
cosmetic laser services (O.C.G.A. Title 43, Ch. 34, Art. 9 — a codified statutory scheme, explicitly excluded from the 'practice of medicine' definition): Within 50 miles
§ 43-34-242 defines an eligible 'consulting physician' as having a principal practice location within Georgia or within 50 miles of the laser facility. Two license tiers exist under § 43-34-244: 'Assistant Laser Practitioner' (PA/LPN/RN/esthetician/master cosmetologist with 3+ board-approved courses, requires ON-SITE supervision of a senior practitioner) and 'Senior Laser Practitioner' (PA or RN/NP with 3+ years clinical experience, operates under consulting-physician protocols with no on-site requirement). § 43-34-248 requires the consulting physician be 'present at the facility or immediately available for consultation and supervision either personally or via telecommunications' before non-hair-removal treatments.
cosmetic injectables (Botox/dermal fillers): No proximity requirement
No proximity/on-site standard was found beyond the individualized-order-plus-H&P requirement itself — the ordering physician's physical location at the time of injection is not addressed in the position statement language located.
Supervision ratio
Not codified — no cap on file
Chart review
Not codified
Meeting cadence
Not codified
Prescriptive authority
No agreement needed to prescribe · no controlled-substance authority
General RNs (non-APRN) have no independent prescriptive authority — § 43-26-3 frames medication/treatment administration as 'authorized by protocol' or 'as prescribed by' a physician, dentist, or podiatrist.
Written agreement
Not required
Unconditional for general nursing practice. For cosmetic injectables, an individualized order + history/physical from a physician, NP, or PA with prescriptive authority is required (Georgia Board of Nursing Position Statement: Cosmetic/Aesthetic Procedures, Apr. 1, 2024) — this is interpretive guidance, not a new codified rule, and the primary PDF could not be fetched directly (corroborated identically across two independent secondary sources). For cosmetic laser services, a written 'consulting physician' agreement filed with GCMB is required by statute (O.C.G.A. § 43-34-248) — see the proximity rule below.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Non-licensee ownership permitted — No standalone CPOM statute by that name — the functional equivalent runs through O.C.G.A. Title 14, Ch. 7 (Professional Corporations): only Georgia-licensed, actively-practicing members of a profession may be PC shareholders for an entity organized to deliver that profession's services. An RN may generally own the business/management side of a med-spa, but (unlike an APRN) has no independent prescriptive authority to be the 'medical' party — the entity delivering medical-scope services (injectables, higher-tier laser) typically needs physician PC ownership.
Sources for the supervision rules (5)
- O.C.G.A. § 43-26-3 — Definitions, RN Practice Actsecondary
- O.C.G.A. §§ 43-34-242, 43-34-244, 43-34-248 — Cosmetic Laser Services article, all read verbatimsecondary
- Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 360-35-.07, R. 360-35-.05 — Cosmetic laser facility/practice requirements, corroborating the statutory two-tier structure (via Cornell LII mirror, read verbatim)secondary
- Georgia Board of Nursing — Position Statement: Cosmetic/Aesthetic Procedures (Apr. 1, 2024) — primary PDF fetch blocked; corroborated identically by three independent secondary sources
- O.C.G.A. Title 14, Ch. 7 — Professional Corporations Act
About Georgia's rules
Georgia remains one of the more restrictive states: there is no independent-practice pathway for NPs, PMHNPs, CRNAs, CNMs or CNSs, and the 50-mile APRN physician-proximity rule was not removed by the 2023–2024 reform (a common misconception). That reform raised the ratio cap (from 4 to a combined 8 APRNs and PAs) and added a narrow hydrocodone/oxycodone-only Schedule II exception; APRNs and PAs are otherwise barred from Schedule II.
Other clinicians in Georgia: see the state overview.