The LPN scope of practice in Georgia is set by the Georgia Practical Nurses Practice Act (O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 26, Article 2) and Board of Nursing rules in Chapter 410 of the Georgia Administrative Code. Together they define LPN work as supervised patient care, performed for compensation, limited to acts the Board authorizes and the individual nurse is trained to perform safely.1Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Code 43-26 Nurse Practice Act Two things follow from that definition, and both matter in practice: an LPN never practices independently, and an LPN is personally liable for stepping outside the tasks their education and supervision support.
What Georgia LPNs Are Authorized to Do
O.C.G.A. § 43-26-32(7) frames LPN practice as care related to maintaining health and preventing illness, delivered under supervision through acts the Board authorizes. The administrative code in Chapter 410-10 fills in what those acts look like on a shift.2Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Administrative Code Chapter 410-10 Standards of Practice and Unprofessional Conduct Authorized duties include:
- Participating in patient assessment and in planning, implementing, and evaluating care, alongside a supervising provider rather than independently.
- Providing direct patient care in hospitals, intensive care units, nursing homes, outpatient clinics, home health, and dialysis facilities.
- Assisting with bathing, dressing, feeding, repositioning, and other activities of daily living.
- Administering medications and treatments through the routes the LPN has been trained in and the facility permits.
- Supervising unlicensed personnel who deliver patient care, such as certified nursing assistants.
- Performing additional clinical functions, including wound care and dressing changes, when the LPN has received appropriate education for them.
The list is not a menu the LPN chooses from freely. Each item is bounded by two things: the care plan a supervising provider has established, and the LPN’s own preparation to perform the task safely.
Who Must Supervise an LPN
Georgia law requires every LPN to work under the supervision of a physician, dentist, podiatrist, or registered nurse.1Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Code 43-26 Nurse Practice Act Supervision is not an add-on rule; it is part of the statutory definition of LPN practice itself. Every act an LPN performs is, by legal definition, supervised care.
How that supervision looks depends on the setting. In a hospital ICU, an RN is usually nearby and reachable in seconds. In a long-term care facility, the LPN may be the most senior nurse on the floor during a shift, coordinating among several providers, but still operating within care plans a physician or RN has developed or approved. The common thread across settings: the LPN reports observations and changes in condition to the supervising provider, follows the established care plan, and seeks guidance before performing anything unfamiliar.
Documented communication with the supervising provider is the LPN’s best protection if a scope question later arises. When something goes wrong, the record of what was reported and to whom becomes the strongest evidence that the nurse acted within their authority.
The Personal Liability Line
The single most important limit on LPN scope in Georgia is this: an LPN is personally liable if they perform functions for which they lack the education, experience, or supervision to perform safely.2Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Administrative Code Chapter 410-10 Standards of Practice and Unprofessional Conduct The rule shifts responsibility onto the individual nurse rather than the employer.
In practice, most scope violations start the same way. A facility is short-staffed. A supervisor is not immediately available. An LPN is asked to do something outside what they were trained for, or something the care plan does not cover. Agreeing to perform that task does not transfer the risk to the facility. If harm results, the LPN’s license and personal exposure are on the line regardless of who asked. Declining or delaying until a supervisor can direct or perform the task is the legally protective response, even when it is operationally inconvenient.
Because the standard is education, experience, and supervision together, a task that is inside scope for one LPN can be outside scope for another. Wound care and dressing changes are listed among authorized duties, but only “when the LPN has received appropriate education.” That framing runs through the entire scope: the label on the task is not enough; the nurse’s specific preparation for it is.
Title Use as a Scope Boundary
Only a person holding a current Georgia LPN license may use the title “Licensed Practical Nurse” or the abbreviation “L.P.N.”1Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Code 43-26 Nurse Practice Act LPNs must display the title or abbreviation on a name tag or similar identification when providing direct patient care.
The statute also restricts the broader term “nurse” and any abbreviation suggesting authorization to practice nursing. Using either without a current license is a violation whether or not patient care is involved. A lapsed renewal matters here for the same reason: practicing on an expired license is legally equivalent to practicing without one, which is both a scope violation and grounds for discipline.
What Counts as Practicing Outside Your Scope
The Board of Nursing has broad authority to refuse, revoke, suspend, or restrict an LPN license. O.C.G.A. § 43-26-40 lists six grounds for discipline, and several of them are the ways scope violations most often reach the Board:3Justia Law. Georgia Code Title 43 Chapter 26 Section 43-26-40 – Refusal to Grant License
- Unprofessional conduct, defined to include any behavior harmful to the public even when no actual patient injury occurs. The statute explicitly calls out improper medication charting and any departure from minimum acceptable nursing standards.
- Violating any state or federal law related to nursing practice, whether or not the violation is criminal.
- Violating a prior Board order, including probationary conditions imposed after an earlier scope issue.
- Impaired ability to practice safely due to illness, substance use, or a mental or physical condition.
- Criminal conviction of a felony, a crime involving moral turpitude, or any controlled-substance offense, including a nolo contendere plea.
- Discipline in another jurisdiction, including denial of a license elsewhere.
The Board can also act under O.C.G.A. § 43-1-19, the general professional licensing statute, which adds grounds such as knowingly making false statements to obtain a license and aiding unlicensed practice.4Justia Law. Georgia Code Title 43 Chapter 1 Section 43-1-19 – Refusal to Grant, Revocation, and Discipline
Consequences range from mandatory remedial education and probationary conditions to full license revocation. Civil liability runs on a separate track. If a patient is harmed because an LPN was negligent or practiced outside authorized scope, a lawsuit for damages can proceed regardless of what the Board does, and a Board finding does not decide the civil case any more than a civil verdict decides the licensing matter.
h2>Where the Rules Live
Two sources control any close scope question in Georgia. The statute is O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 26, Article 2, the Georgia Practical Nurses Practice Act, which defines LPN practice and the supervision requirement. The Board’s operational rules sit in Chapter 410 of the Georgia Administrative Code, with Rule 410-10-.02 setting the specific standards of practice. Before performing a task you have not done before, or one your training did not cover, the answer is not in a job description or a facility policy; it is in those two documents and in a direct conversation with your supervising provider.