ATLANTA (March 1, 2018) | Senator Renee Unterman (R – Buford) sponsored Senate Bill 351 which passed the Senate on Wednesday, February 28, 2018.
“Senate Bill 351 is the result of lots of feedback from health care professionals across the state, especially in the rural parts of Georgia,” said Sen. Unterman. “One of the biggest things I heard throughout my travels and work with the Senate Study Committee on Barriers to Georgians’ Access to Adequate Healthcare was the development of the health care workforce in rural Georgia. We are lucky to have so many schools that have educated nurses and APRNs, and this is just one solution to the beginning of addressing our state’s problem of rural access to health care.”
Senate Bill 351 would increase the number of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) from the current ratio of one doctor to four APRNs to one doctor to eight APRNs. Currently, Georgia is the only state that doesn’t allow APRNs to order radiographic testing. Under SB 351, APRNs would be able to order radiographic testing, x-rays, in the case of life-threatening situations.
For the full text for SB 351, please follow the link below:
http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20172018/175586.pdf
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For Immediate Release:
March 1, 2018
Ines Owens, Director
ines.owens@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028