The Georgia Board of Nursing licenses and regulates every registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, and advanced practice registered nurse in the state. It sits within the Georgia Secretary of State’s Professional Licensing Boards Division and draws its authority from the Georgia Nurse Practice Act at O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 26, plus the administrative rules published under Department 410.1Justia Law. Georgia Code Title 43, Chapter 26 – Nurses2Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. Department 410 – Rules of Georgia Board of Nursing In practical terms, the board decides who can practice, what continuing competency looks like, when a license gets renewed, and what happens when a nurse is accused of misconduct.
Getting Licensed in Georgia
Every RN and LPN applicant must graduate from a board-approved nursing program and pass the NCLEX — the NCLEX-RN for registered nurses, the NCLEX-PN for practical nurses.3Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. Georgia Compiled Rules and Regulations R 410-2-.03 – Licensure by Examination You get up to three years within the board’s eligibility window to pass; miss that window and you must re-enroll in and complete an approved program before you can sit for the exam again.4Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Code 43-26-7 – Requirements for Licensure as Registered Professional Nurse
Applying counts as express consent to a fingerprint-based criminal background check through the Georgia Crime Information Center and the FBI, and you pay those fees yourself. Along with the application, you submit official transcripts and the $40 application fee.5Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Board of Nursing Fee Schedule
Advanced Practice Registered Nurses
APRNs must already hold an active Georgia RN license before applying for advanced practice authorization. Georgia recognizes five APRN categories: certified nurse-midwife, nurse practitioner, certified registered nurse anesthetist, clinical nurse specialist, and clinical nurse specialist in psychiatric/mental health.6Georgia Secretary of State. Chapter 410-11 – Regulation of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses Each requires current national certification in the applicable specialty.
Foreign-Educated Nurses
If you trained outside the United States, Georgia requires a Credentials Evaluation Service (CES) Professional Report from CGFNS, which validates your education against U.S. standards and confirms the authenticity of your licenses and diplomas. Anyone with fewer than 500 practice hours must submit a CES report, and anyone seeking a multistate license must submit one regardless of practice hours.7CGFNS International. Georgia Nursing Credentials Evaluation You need at least one active foreign nursing license when the report is issued. The NCLEX and background-check requirements apply to you the same as to a domestic graduate. Georgia does not require English proficiency scores to be submitted to CGFNS for the CES report itself, but any separate English requirement the board sets still applies.
The Multistate Compact License
Georgia entered the enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact (eNLC) after Governor Nathan Deal signed Senate Bill 109 on May 8, 2017, with implementation starting January 19, 2018.8Georgia Secretary of State. Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact Frequently Asked Questions for Georgia Licensees A multistate license lets you practice in any other compact state without holding a separate license there. It is optional. If you only practice in Georgia, a single-state license is enough.
To hold a multistate license with Georgia as your home state, you have to declare Georgia as your primary state of residence and document it with something like a Georgia driver’s license, voter registration card, or federal tax return. You also have to meet the compact’s uniform licensure requirements: an unencumbered license, a completed criminal background check with no felony convictions, no active participation in an alternative-to-discipline program, and a valid Social Security number.
Georgia single-state licensees can apply to the board to upgrade. If you move out of Georgia to another compact state, you have 60 days to apply for a multistate license in the new state. Moving to a non-compact state converts your license to single-state status. You cannot hold multistate licenses in two compact states at once.
Renewing Your License
Georgia nursing licenses renew on a biennial cycle. RNs and APRNs renew by January 31 of even-numbered years. LPNs renew by March 31 of odd-numbered years.9Georgia Secretary of State. Nursing Renewal Information APRNs follow the RN schedule and must keep their national certification current throughout the period. The renewal fee is $65.5Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Board of Nursing Fee Schedule
Renewal also requires meeting continuing competency under Chapter 410-13. The board accepts several pathways:10Georgia Secretary of State. Chapter 410-13 – Continuing Competency
- 30 hours of approved continuing education during the renewal period.
- Current national certification from a recognized nursing organization.
- At least 500 hours of nursing practice within the renewal period.
- Nursing-related academic credit from an accredited institution.
- Completion of a board-approved nursing reentry program.
Keep your documentation for at least four years. The board audits.
If Your License Lapses
Miss the deadline and your license expires. You cannot practice. Practicing on an expired license is a misdemeanor under Georgia law. To restore your license, you apply for reinstatement, pay any late fees, and show that you meet current competency standards. Depending on how long the license has been expired, the board may require additional continuing education, a refresher program, or other conditions. Reinstatement is discretionary.
What Your License Lets You Do
The Nurse Practice Act sets the scope for each tier. RNs assess patients, develop and carry out care plans, administer medications, and perform procedures that require clinical judgment. LPNs provide basic nursing care under the supervision of an RN or physician. Working outside your authorized scope is grounds for discipline and, in some cases, criminal prosecution.
APRN Prescribing Under a Protocol Agreement
APRNs in Georgia practice under nurse protocol agreements — written arrangements with a delegating physician in a comparable specialty. The agreement must identify the specific medical acts the APRN may perform, require a plan for immediate physician consultation, and include a schedule for the physician to review patient records.11Justia Law. Georgia Code 43-34-25 – Delegation of Certain Medical Acts This is not independent practice; the delegating physician remains responsible for the APRN’s medical acts.12Georgia Secretary of State. Chapter 360-32 – Nurse Protocol Agreements
Georgia historically barred APRNs from prescribing any Schedule I or II controlled substances. A recent amendment to O.C.G.A. § 43-34-25 now allows APRNs to prescribe hydrocodone, oxycodone, or their compounds in emergency situations under strict conditions: at least one year of post-licensure clinical experience, authorization written into the protocol agreement, a patient 18 or older directly evaluated by the APRN, and an initial supply limited to five days.11Justia Law. Georgia Code 43-34-25 – Delegation of Certain Medical Acts No other Schedule II substances are covered. Refills of any controlled substance are capped at 12 months from the original order, and 24 months for oral contraceptives, hormone replacement therapy, and prenatal vitamins.13Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. Georgia Compiled Rules and Regulations R 360-32-.02 – Requirements for Nurse Protocol Agreements
Complaints and Discipline
Anyone can file a complaint against a Georgia nurse — through the board’s complaint portal, by email, or by mail to the Professional Licensing Boards Division. Common grounds include negligence, substance abuse, unprofessional conduct, and practicing beyond scope. Investigations stay confidential until formal disciplinary proceedings begin, and the full process from complaint to resolution can run well over a year.
Under O.C.G.A. § 43-26-11 for RNs and § 43-26-40 for LPNs, the statutory grounds for discipline include:14Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Code 43-26-11 and 43-26-40 – Disciplinary Authority
- Any felony, crime involving moral turpitude, or violation of federal or state controlled-substance laws, including a no-contest plea.
- Inability to practice safely due to illness, substance use, or a mental or physical condition.
- Departure from accepted nursing standards, including improper charting of medications, even where no patient was harmed.
- Having a nursing license revoked, suspended, or otherwise disciplined by another state or jurisdiction.
- Failure to comply with a previous board order.
- Securing a license through misrepresentation or practicing under a fraudulently obtained credential.
Penalties scale with severity. Informal actions include a letter of concern, a mitigating letter, or closure with no action. Moderate sanctions include private or public reprimand, fines, mandatory remedial courses, practice monitoring, and license limitations. Severe sanctions are probation, suspension, and revocation.
If you don’t agree to a proposed order, the case goes to a formal hearing, which may be conducted by an administrative law judge at the Office of State Administrative Hearings or heard directly by the board. After a hearing, you can seek judicial review in Georgia Superior Court. The board also offers consent agreements, which resolve cases without a hearing in exchange for specific conditions like additional training, supervised practice, or monitoring. Consent agreements still count as discipline and are reported the same way.
National Reporting and the Compact
Georgia reports disciplinary actions to the National Practitioner Data Bank and to Nursys, the national nurse licensure database. The NPDB requires state boards to report adverse actions from formal proceedings, including revocations, suspensions, reprimands, probation, and censures. A voluntary surrender is reported when it happens during or in exchange for the board dropping an investigation; a surrender for purely personal reasons like retirement, with no investigation pending, is not.15National Practitioner Data Bank. Reporting State Licensure and Certification Actions Administrative fines from formal proceedings are reportable, and consent agreements are reported when they meet NPDB criteria. Any hospital, employer, or licensing board in another state can query the NPDB and see the action.
For nurses holding a multistate compact license, discipline in one state doesn’t stay in one state. Any compact state where you hold a privilege to practice can take its own action based on a Georgia violation, treating the offense as though it happened locally. If Georgia revokes or suspends your privilege, other compact states will see it through Nursys and can be expected to bring similar charges where you’ve been actively practicing. A nurse whose license or practice privilege is suspended or revoked must limit nursing practice to the home state during the disciplinary period, subject to what the home-state board allows. Practicing in a remote compact state while under active discipline generally requires written permission from both boards, which is rarely granted.
Practicing Without a License
Working as a nurse in Georgia without a valid, current license is a misdemeanor. That covers practicing while your license is expired, suspended, revoked, or surrendered, and it covers using a fraudulently obtained credential or holding yourself out as a nurse without one. The same misdemeanor classification applies to LPNs under O.C.G.A. § 43-26-42.16Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Code 43-26-42 – Criminal Violations Knowingly hiring someone to practice nursing without a valid license is itself a misdemeanor, and so is running an unapproved nursing education program or helping someone else violate the Nurse Practice Act. Letting a license lapse isn’t just an administrative problem; it carries real criminal exposure for the nurse and for anyone who keeps them on the schedule.