---
title: HB 981. Professions and businesses; expand certain advanced practice registered nurse and physician assistant prescriptive authorizations
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb981
cite_as: HB 981, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb981
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb981.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb981/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72241
date: 2026-01-27
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb981.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 981
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-01-15
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Alan Powell
- Ginny Ehrhart
- Angie O'Steen
- Mack Jackson
- Jan Jones
- Sandy Donatucci
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB981/2025
upstream_id: 2083399
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- nurse practitioners
- physician assistants
- prescription drugs
- opioid prescribing
- medical licensing
---
# HB 981. Professions and businesses; expand certain advanced practice registered nurse and physician assistant prescriptive authorizations
## Text
House Bill 981
By: Representatives Powell of the 33rd, Ehrhart of the 36th, O’Steen of the 169th, Jackson of
the 128th, and Jones of the 47th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 34 of Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
physicians, assistants, and others, so as to expand certain advanced practice registered nurse
and physician assistant prescriptive authorizations; to provide for a definition; to increase
certain prescriptive authorizations from five-day to 30 day supplies; to remove certain
prohibitions on writing prescriptions for minors; to provide for certain prescriptive
authorization to order stimulants; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws;
and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 34 of Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to physicians,
assistants, and others, is amended by adding a new paragraph to subsection (a) of and by
revising subsection (d.1), paragraph (10) of subsection (g), and paragraph (2) of subsection
(m) of Code Section 43-34-25, relating to delegation of certain medical acts to advanced
practice registered nurse, construction and limitations of such delegation, definitions,
conditions of nurse protocol, and issuance of prescription drug orders, to read as follows:
"(16) 'Stimulant' means any material, compound, mixture, or preparation that increases
heart rate, breathing, or brain function as provided in paragraph (3) of Code Section
16-13-26."
"(d.1) An advanced practice registered nurse who has at least one year of post-licensure
clinical experience and is in good standing with the board may be authorized under a nurse
protocol agreement to issue prescription drug orders for stimulants, hydrocodone,
oxycodone, or compounds thereof in emergency situations pursuant to the following
requirements:
(1) The authorization is specifically included in the nurse protocol agreement;
(2) The advanced practice registered nurse has directly evaluated the patient;
(3) The prescription drug order is limited to an initial prescription, not to exceed a
five-day 30 day supply; and
(4) The prescription drug order is for an individual 18 years of age or older; and
(5)(4) The advanced practice registered nurse completes one hour of continuing
education biennially in the appropriate ordering and use of stimulants, hydrocodone,
oxycodone, and compounds thereof."
"(10) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (d.1) of this Code section, in any
emergency medical services system operated by, or on behalf of, any county,
municipality, or hospital authority with a full-time physician medical director who does
not order drugs, except that he or she may order up to a 14 day supply of drugs as
necessary in an emergency situation, excluding benzodiazepines and all Schedule II
controlled substances except hydrocodone, oxycodone, or compounds thereof; provided,
however, that an advanced practice registered nurse shall not order radiographic imaging,
diagnostic studies, or medical devices pursuant to this paragraph; and provided, further,
that a patient shall be referred to a physician, a dentist, or a federally qualified health
center."
"(2)(A) Further, the board shall be authorized to:
(i) Require that a nurse protocol agreement shall be filed by the delegating physician
with the board within a reasonable time from the date of execution;
(ii) Determine, after review of a filed nurse protocol agreement, if such nurse
protocol agreement fails to meet accepted standards of medical practice as established
by the board; and
(iii) Require the delegating physician to amend any such noncompliant nurse protocol
agreement in order to meet such accepted standards.
(B) If a medical practice has an existing approved nurse protocol agreement and an
alternate delegating physician or a change in the delegating physician within the same
or similar specialty, such new nurse protocol agreement for the new alternate delegating
physician or a change in the delegating physician, upon submission, shall be
automatically deemed approved authorized by the board.
(C) If a delegating physician submits a nurse protocol agreement for a new advanced
practice registered nurse and such nurse protocol agreement has substantially the same
terms and provisions as a nurse protocol agreement previously submitted by such
delegating physician for another advanced practice registered nurse and approved by
the board, the nurse protocol agreement for the new advanced practice registered nurse,
upon submission, shall be automatically deemed approved authorized by the board."
SECTION 2.
Said chapter is further amended by revising paragraphs (1) and (10) of subsection (e.1) of
Code Section 43-34-103, relating to delegation of authority to physician assistants, as
follows:
"(e.1)(1)(A) In addition to and without limiting the authority granted by Code Section
43-34-23, a physician may delegate to a physician assistant, in accordance with a job
description, the authority to issue a prescription drug order or orders for any device as
defined in Code Section 26-4-5 or to issue any dangerous drug as defined in Code
Section 16-13-71, stimulants, hydrocodone, oxycodone, or compounds thereof in
accordance with subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, or any Schedule III, IV, or V
controlled substance as defined in Code Section 16-13-21 on a prescription drug order
or prescription device order form as specified in paragraph (3) of this subsection.
Delegation of such authority shall be contained in the job description required by this
Code section. The delegating physician shall remain responsible for the medical acts
of the physician assistant performing such delegated acts and shall adequately supervise
the physician assistant. If an existing job description for a physician assistant does not
contain such authority to order a prescription drug or device order as provided by this
subsection, that physician assistant may not issue any such prescription drug or device
order until a new job description delegating such authority is submitted to and approved
by the board. Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to authorize the written
prescription drug order of a Schedule I or II controlled substance, except as authorized
pursuant to subparagraph (B) of this paragraph.
(B) A physician may delegate to a physician assistant who has at least one year of
post-licensure clinical experience and is in good standing with the board the authority
to issue prescription drug orders for stimulants, hydrocodone, oxycodone, or
compounds thereof in emergency situations pursuant to the following requirements:
(i) The authorization is specifically included in the job description;
(ii) The physician assistant has directly evaluated the patient; and
(iii) The drug order is limited to an initial prescription not to exceed a five-day 30
day supply; and
(iv) The prescription drug order is for an individual 18 years of age or older."
"(10)(A) A physician assistant delegated the authority by the primary supervising
physician to issue a prescription drug or device order shall be required to complete a
minimum of three hours of continuing education biennially in practice specific
pharmaceuticals in which the physician assistant has prescriptive order privileges.
(B) A physician assistant delegated the authority by the primary supervising physician
to issue a prescription drug or device order for stimulants, hydrocodone, oxycodone,
or compounds thereof shall be required to complete one additional hour of continuing
education biennially in the appropriate ordering and use of stimulants, hydrocodone,
oxycodone, or compounds thereof."
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
House Bill 981 would let advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants write 30 day emergency prescriptions for certain painkillers and stimulants, up from five days, and would drop the current rule limiting those prescriptions to adult patients.
### Plain-language summary
Under current Georgia law, advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) and physician assistants (PAs) who have a nurse protocol or job description agreement with a supervising physician can prescribe hydrocodone, oxycodone, or related compounds in emergencies, but only as an initial prescription capped at a five-day supply, and only for patients 18 or older. House Bill 981 rewrites parts of Georgia's law on physicians, assistants, and others (O.C.G.A. Chapter 34 of Title 43) to raise that cap to a 30 day supply and to remove the requirement that the patient be an adult.
The bill also adds a legal definition of 'stimulant' tied to Georgia's Controlled Substances Act (O.C.G.A. § 16-13-26) and extends the same emergency prescribing authority, continuing education requirements, and 30 day supply limit to stimulant prescriptions for both APRNs and PAs. It also changes how the state medical board handles nurse protocol agreements when a new supervising physician or new APRN is added, calling board sign-off 'authorized' rather than 'approved,' and removes a carve-out that had excluded benzodiazepines and most Schedule II drugs from a 14-day emergency supply rule for certain EMS medical directors.
### What it does
- Raises the maximum emergency prescription supply that APRNs and PAs can issue for hydrocodone, oxycodone, or related compounds from five days to 30 days.
- Removes the current requirement that emergency prescriptions for these drugs only go to patients 18 years of age or older.
- Adds a new legal definition of 'stimulant' and lets APRNs and PAs with the right training prescribe stimulants under the same emergency rules as hydrocodone and oxycodone.
- Requires APRNs and PAs authorized to prescribe stimulants to complete an extra hour of continuing education every two years on their proper use.
- Removes a carve-out that had excluded benzodiazepines and most Schedule II drugs from the 14-day emergency supply limit for certain EMS medical directors.
- Changes board language on nurse protocol agreements involving a new supervising physician or new APRN from automatically 'approved' to automatically 'authorized.'
### Who it affects
Advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants who prescribe under physician-delegated authority, the physicians who supervise them, patients (including minors) who receive emergency prescriptions for painkillers or stimulants, the Georgia Composite Medical Board, and emergency medical services systems run by counties, cities, or hospital authorities.
### Why it matters
Patients, including minors, in emergency situations could receive a month's supply of certain opioids or stimulants from an APRN or PA rather than a five-day supply requiring a quick follow-up, changing how often patients need to return for a new prescription and expanding who can receive these drugs without a physician's direct order.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 adds a definition of 'stimulant' tied to O.C.G.A. § 16-13-26 and applies it throughout the APRN prescribing rules in O.C.G.A. § 43-34-25.
- Section 1 raises the emergency prescription cap for hydrocodone, oxycodone, and now stimulants from a five-day to a 30 day supply for qualifying APRNs.
- Section 1 removes the requirement that these emergency prescriptions be limited to patients 18 or older.
- Section 1 removes an exclusion for benzodiazepines and most Schedule II drugs from the 14-day emergency drug supply rule for certain EMS medical directors.
- Section 1 changes automatic board sign-off on certain nurse protocol agreement changes from 'approved' to 'authorized.'
- Section 2 makes matching changes for physician assistants in O.C.G.A. § 43-34-103, raising their emergency prescription cap to 30 days and removing the adult-patient requirement.
- Section 2 requires PAs authorized to prescribe stimulants to complete an extra hour of continuing education every two years on proper stimulant use.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-01-15)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2026-01-27)
- Sponsors: Alan Powell, Ginny Ehrhart, Angie O'Steen, Mack Jackson, Jan Jones, Sandy Donatucci
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72241
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb981.md?full=1