Georgia Nurse Protocol Agreement by Olushola Alaka, DNP, ANP-BC

Nurse Protocol Agreement and the Georgia Medical Board If an APRN has been delegated prescriptive authority (the APRN writes prescriptions), then a nurse protocol agreement must be submitted to the Georgia Medical Board. There are two (2) different laws in the state of Georgia that pertain to nurse protocol agreements. OCGA 43-34-23 is the GA law regarding nurse protocol agreements without prescriptive authority for the APRN’s. OCGA 43-34-25 is the GA law regarding nurse protocol agreements with prescriptive authority for the APRN’s.

Nurse Protocol Agreement and the Georgia Medical Board APRN’s who do not write prescriptions and have not submitted nurse protocol agreements to be reviewed by the GA Medical Board, but only call in prescriptions under the physician’s name, are practicing under OCGA 43-34-23. APRN’s who write prescriptions and have submitted nurse protocol agreements for review to the GA Medical Board are practicing under OCGA 43-34-25.

Nurse Protocol Agreement and the Georgia Medical Board With prescriptive authority, an APRN writes and signs own prescriptions. Cosigning is not required. APRN must have an established protocol agreement as well as an issued DEA number before Schedule III – V medication prescriptions can be written. Prior to a DEA number being issued to the APRN, prescriptions for only NON-SCHEDULED medications can be written. Prescriptions for Schedule I & II medications cannot be written by an APRN. These can only be written by physicians.

Delegating Physician A delegating physician and an APRN must have comparable specialties in order to enter into a protocol agreement together. There are two (2) ways: 1) The nurse protocol agreement can specify that the APRN will only perform the Primary Care portion of the practice while undergoing training for the specialty and that the training documentation will be submitted to the Board upon completion. 2) Documentation can be submitted that provides that the APRN has the qualifications/training/experience that would make the APRN’s specialty comparable to that of the delegating physician.

Delegating Physician How many APRN’s can a physician delegate prescriptive authority to at one time? a delegating physician may not enter into a nurse protocol agreement with more than four APRN’s at any one time.

DEA number A DEA number is required ONLY if the APRN will be prescribing controlled substances. With a DEA number, the APRN may prescribe regular prescriptions and Schedule III-V drugs, but not Schedule II (Only physicians can prescribe Schedule II.) Without a DEA number, the APRN may not prescribe any scheduled drugs, but may only write regular prescriptions (such as antibiotics, etc.)

Delegating physician ‘v’ Designated physician What is a delegating physician? A delegating physician is the supervising physician. A designated physician is a consulting physician in the absence of the delegating physician and may also assist with some of the responsibilities of the delegating physician (i.e. chart reviews, patient evaluations, etc.). A designated physician must be indicated on the protocol agreement for the APRN to practice.

Delegating physician ‘v’ Designated physician An APRN can have only one delegated physician but any number of designated physicians. It is acceptable to add and delete a designated (consulting) physician to an agreement that is already in effect. The delegating physician does not have to work at the same physical practice location but should be available for immediate consultation with the APRN, in person or by electronic means. On a quarterly basis, however, the delegating physician must provide onsite observation and review of medical records to monitor the quality of care being provided to the patients.

Delegating Physician When the delegating physician or APRN leaves the practice, the protocol agreement terminates and the APRN is no longer able to practice under that physician’s license. Form B must be submitted to the Board to reflect the termination and the entire agreement is terminated. The APRN must enter into a new protocol agreement with a new delegating physician.

Delegating Physician There is no accommodation to “change” a delegating physician. Prescriptive authority is connected to the delegating physician’s medical license. The termination notification form (Form B) must be submitted for the previous delegating physician and received in 10 days from termination date.

APRN in Group Practice There is no need for a separate protocol agreement with each physician in the practice. By having a protocol agreement with one physician in your practice (who is the delegating physician), the APRN has prescriptive authority. It does not matter which physician the APRN is “working with” on a given day or which physician is “on call”.

Protocol update and review… Annually the protocol agreement must be reviewed and revised (if necessary) by the delegating physician and the APRN. It does not need to be submitted to Medical Board, only retained at the practice location. If up for review they will request it from the delegating physician and they must submit to Board at that time. If additional procedures are being added to the protocol agreement during the annual update, Form C must be resubmitted to the Board, along with the documentation of the training for the new procedures.

APRN Forms Nurse Protocol Agreement- form that is utilized as an agreement between delegating (supervising) physician and APRN APRN Registration Form- to register with GA composite medical board FORM A- Designating (Consulting) Physician Information- used with the protocol agreement with the delegating physician FORM B- Protocol Termination Agreement- to be used ONLY if the DELEGATING PHYSICIAN is no longer DELEGATING PRESCRIPTIVE AUTHORITY to the APRN (terminates all, if any, Designated Physicians listed on the protocol agreement).

APRN Forms FORM C- Protocol Agreement worksheet includes procedures being performed within or not within competency. Documentation of training and competency is required. FORM D- APRN DEA Information- license and registration information for APRN and delegating physician.

References Georgia Composite Medical Board (n.d.) Nurse protocol forms. http://medicalboard.georgia.gov/nurse-protocol- aprn-forms Georgia Board of Nursing (n.d.) Application, Initial Authorization APRN. http://sos.ga.gov/PLB/acrobat/Forms/38%20Appl ication%20- %20Initial%20Authorization%20(APRN).pdf