Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 410-12-.02 - Reporting of Minor Incidents
(1) The Georgia Board of Nursing believes
that the protection of the public is not enhanced by the reporting of every
minor incident that may be a violation of the Georgia Nurse Practice Act or a
Board rule. This is particularly true when there are mechanisms in place in the
nurse's practice setting to identify nursing errors, detect patterns of
practice, and take corrective action to remediate deficits in a nurse's
judgment, knowledge, training, or skill. This rule is intended to provide
guidance to nurses, nursing peer review committees and others in determining
whether a nurse has engaged in conduct that indicates the nurse's continued
practice would pose a risk of harm to patients or others and should be reported
to the board.
(2) A minor incident
is defined by the Board as conduct by a nurse that may be a violation of the
Nurse Practice Act or a Board rule but does not indicate the nurse's continued
practice poses a risk of harm to a patient or another person.
(3) When evaluating if conduct must be
reported to the Board the following factors should be considered:
(a) A nurse involved in a minor incident need
not be reported to the Board unless the conduct indicates the nurse:
1.Ignored a substantial risk that exposed a
patient or other person to significant physical, emotional or financial harm or
the potential for such harm;
2.Lacked a conscientious approach to or
accountability for his/her practice;
3.Lacked the knowledge and competencies to
make appropriate clinical judgments and such knowledge and competencies cannot
be easily remediated; or
4.Has
engaged in a pattern of multiple minor incidents that demonstrate the nurse's
continued practice would pose a risk of harm to patients or others.
(4) Other factors that
may be considered in determining whether a minor incident should be reported to
the Board are:
(a) The significance of the
nurse's conduct in the particular practice setting; and
(b) The presence of contributing or
mitigating circumstances, including systems issues or factors beyond the
nurse's control, in relation to the nurse's conduct.
(5) When evaluating whether multiple
incidents constitute grounds for reporting it is the responsibility of the
nurse manager, supervisor or peer review committee to determine if the minor
incidents indicate a pattern of practice that demonstrates the nurse's
continued practice poses a risk and should be reported.
(6) Regardless of the time frame or number of
minor incidents, if a nurse manager or supervisor believes the minor incidents
indicate a pattern of practice that poses a risk of harm that cannot be
remediated, the nurse should be reported to the Board.
Notes
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