Getting results
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution began reporting on the Georgia Board of Nursing’s backlog of disciplinary cases last July. In its investigation, the AJC found the board took an average of 15 months to address disciplinary complaints, even in cases where the nurse was self reporting. The official backlog of more than 3,300 cases put patients across the state at risk and a lack of state funding delayed the implementation of a law that would require hospitals to report nurses with drug additions or other problems. The AJC will continue to monitor the board’s progress following the promise of additional funding and manpower from Secretary of State Brian Kemp.
Related stories
Nursing board takes years to clear cases: http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional/nursing-board-takes-years-to-clear-cases/nYpwD/
Governor intervenes in nursing board’s turmoil: http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional/governor-intervenes-in-nursing-boards-turmoil/nYwpL/
Nursing board puts ‘your family at risk,’ chief says: http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/nursing-board-puts-your-family-at-risk-chief-says/nZtDg/
Log on to MyAJC.com to read the AJC’s previous coverage of the problems plaguing Georgia’s nursing board.
The Georgia Board of Nursing is getting a fatter budget to fund a 2013 law requiring hospitals to report nurses with drug addictions and other problems, but is losing an outspoken advocate for more resources.
In separate actions, Secretary of State Brian Kemp on Monday announced more money for the board, which has struggled under a backlog of cases, while Gov. Nathan Deal last week declined to reappoint the nursing board member who’d been the loudest champion for more resources.
Kemp said Monday the nursing board, the largest of the state’s licensing boards, will get $2 million to spend in the fiscal year that starts July 1, an effective increase of $600,000. The money will be used to implement House Bill 315, a bill passed last year that requires hospitals and health professionals to file a report with the board when a nurse is found abusing drugs of making medical errors.
Last year, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found the board took an average of 15 months to address accusations of theft, abuse and drug addiction filed against nurses. Even some self-reported cases of narcotics abuse took months to make it to the board for disciplinary action.
“I firmly believe that HB 315 will bring about a safer environment of care for Georgia patients and medical professionals,” Kemp said. “I want to thank Gov. Deal and his staff, the General Assembly and the nursing community who helped make the funding of this program a reality.”
The additional $600,000 for the board is a significant increase for a body that has struggled with a massive backlog of disciplinary cases.
Georgia Nurses Association president Rebecca Wheeler said the additional funding is the result of more than two years of lobbying by the association.
“We are encouraged to see the secretary of state has finally recognized how crucial a Board of Nursing with improved resources that is able to enact mandatory reporting is to the safety and well-being of patients and nurses in our state,” she said.
The AJC’s review of board documents showed nurses with pending complaints continued to see patients while waiting for their case to be investigated, with some moving from job to job even after being discovered stealing narcotics.
One of the loudest critics was Barry Cranfill, a nurse anesthetist and then-president of the board. Cranfill said the board’s small budget and poor record-keeping system had resulted in a backlog of hundreds, if not thousands, of unresolved disciplinary cases. Last year the board estimated the backlog at 3,340 cases, but because of poor record keeping it was impossible to tell how many of those cases were still unresolved.
Cranfill said Kemp’s announcement is good news for nurses and patients.
“I am extremely pleased that the governor, the General Assembly and the secretary of state have recognized this important need and have made a vital, first step in the right direction toward ensuring the safety of our citizens,” he said.
Cranfill publicly lobbied for the Legislature to give the board more money and even suggested that nurses could sue the state to force reforms. His approach rankled some officials at the Capitol. Last week, Deal appointed eight people to the board, but Cranfill was not among them.
“I was called on Thursday by the governor’s office and told I would be replaced as soon as the announcements were made,” he said. “They said thank you for your service. I anticipated being removed based on my insistence on bringing this to the public view.”
Funding has been a sore point for board supporters, who point out the board generates about $4 million in revenue, mostly for fees paid by nurses for their state-required license.
Some states, like North Carolina, allow their nursing board to keep licensing fees and use that money to police their profession. In Georgia, fees from all the state’s professional boards flow into the general treasury and lawmakers often use that money for unrelated purposes.
Jared Thomas, Kemp’s spokesman, said the additional revenue will fund nine new positions, including four complaint processors and three dedicated investigators. Currently, the nursing board shares investigators with the state’s other licensing boards, which include boards that license sports agents, barbers and massage therapists, among others.
The state board of nursing licenses about 150,000 nurses statewide. Cranfill said the money will help, but the board has a long way to go. Frequent computer outages have resulted in even more delays. Currently the board website has a warning to nurses to expect delays of at least 20 days just to process license applications.
“At one point we had 47 days of mail that was unopened because it can’t be opened until we can log it in the system,” he said.
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