Hospitals and other medical personnel in Georgia are legally required to report nurses who have substance abuse problems or who make medical errors that endanger patients, lawmakers decided this week.
The General Assembly passed such a law last year but only this week agreed to fund it — and only then with money that the Secretary of State had squirreled away for another purpose.
Under the law, such reports would go the state nursing board, which already has a backlog of disciplinary complaints. The Secretary of State’s office, which oversees most of the state’s professional boards, is unhappy that money it was saving for technology improvements will be funneled instead to the nursing board.
But advocates for nurses were pleased. “We’re feeling pretty good about it,” said Debbie Hackman, CEO of the Georgia Nurses Association.
via Hospitals now must report drug-addicted nurses | www.myajc.com.
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