Nursing negligence claims in Georgia medical malpractice

A nursing negligence claim is a malpractice claim about a nurse’s own conduct: what the nurse assessed, gave, reported, or recorded. The nurse is listed in O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1(g), so an expert affidavit goes with the complaint. Georgia does not require that expert to be a nurse in every case, because § 24-7-702(c)(2)(D) lets a qualified physician testify about nursing care. A hospital that employs the nurse can be the party that pays.

What kinds of failure these claims involve

These claims can be sorted into categories, and each one looks to different records.

Failure	Question	Records
Medication	Right drug, dose, route, time, and patient?	Orders and the medication administration record
Monitoring	Was the patient assessed as ordered or as the condition required?	Flow sheets and vital signs
Communication	Was the change reported, and was it escalated if nothing happened?	Nursing notes and call logs
Following orders	Were orders carried out as written?	Orders compared with what was done
Prevention	Were fall and pressure injury measures in place?	Care plans and risk assessments

The nursing standard is a matter for expert testimony in the particular case, so a list like this one describes what gets examined. It is not a statement that any item was required.

Who can give the expert opinion

Two rules combine. Paragraph (C) of § 24-7-702(c)(2) requires a member of the same profession, except as paragraph (D) provides, so a nurse can testify about another nurse’s care if the expert meets the three-of-five-years requirement in the relevant area. Paragraph (D) adds that “an expert who is a physician” and who, during at least three of the last five years, “supervised, taught, or instructed nurses” may testify if the physician “has knowledge of the standard of care of that health care provider under the circumstances at issue”.

A nurse cannot go the other way. Paragraph (D) says a nurse “shall not be competent to testify as to the standard of care of a physician”. That matters in a case with both a nurse and a physician as defendants, where more than one witness may be required. Details are on the standard of care expert page.

An opinion on causation is different. If the nurse’s failure led to a stroke or a brain injury, a physician may be the right witness for that link, as causation challenges explains.

Why the hospital matters

A nurse employed by a hospital acts for it, and the ordinary rule on employer liability applies, covered in vicarious liability and hospital negligence. The statutory notice in § 51-2-5.1 that can protect a hospital concerning independent contractors does not help it if “an actual agency or employment relationship” exists. Staffing agency arrangements are where that question arises, and the contracts are where to look for the answer.

Section 51-2-5.1(a)(1) lists registered and licensed practical nurses among health care professionals. House Bill 185 amended that subsection in 2026 as part of its dietitian licensing changes, so the current list should be read rather than remembered.

Records and what they can show

Documentation can help either side. The record can show what was done, when, and by whom. A gap can be an argument, though a missing entry shouldn’t be assumed to be a conclusive finding that something did not happen. An electronic chart can also have an audit trail showing when entries were made or changed, which is worth requesting early. Federal and Georgia rules on getting records are in the medical records article.

Internal incident reports and peer review material raise a separate barrier. Section 31-7-133(a) makes peer review proceedings and records not subject to discovery, while § 31-7-143 preserves access to information available from original sources.

Settings with a different legal standard

Emergency care can change the standard. O.C.G.A. § 51-1-29.5(c) requires “clear and convincing evidence” of “gross negligence” for a claim arising out of emergency medical care in a hospital emergency department, an obstetrical unit, or a surgical suite right after emergency evaluation, and it applies to a “physician or health care provider”. It does not apply once the patient “is stabilized”. A nurse’s care in the emergency department may need to meet that test. Emergency room malpractice claims explains the boundary.

Mental health care can also change it. Section 51-1-29.7, added by House Bill 1409 for causes of action arising on or after July 1, 2024, requires gross negligence in a mental health care liability claim, according to the Legislative Counsel’s summary.

Nursing homes bring in arbitration agreements, which can bind a resident’s beneficiaries under United Health Services v. Norton, 300 Ga. 736 (2017).

Damages

The damages categories are the same as in other malpractice claims. Noneconomic damages in a judgment have been the subject of Nestlehutt and Clark v. Leigh. For causes of action arising on or after April 21, 2025, medical expense damages follow § 51-12-1.1.

The first thing to find out

Who employed the nurse is the first question, because it decides whether the hospital, a staffing agency, or a nursing home is the party at risk, and whether a public body’s notice period applies. The second is what time the condition changed, because the chart can be read against that time. Both questions can be answered from records before any expert is hired.

Sources

• Official Code of Georgia Annotated, November 2022 public release: §§ 9-11-9.1, 24-7-702, 31-7-133, 31-7-143, 51-1-29.5, 51-2-5.1
• Legislative Counsel, Summary of General Statutes Enacted, 2024: House Bill 1409
• Legislative Counsel, Summary of General Statutes Enacted, 2026: House Bill 185
• Senate Bill 68, as passed (2025): Section 7, Section 9(b)
• United Health Services of Georgia v. Norton, 300 Ga. 736

This page was last reviewed in November 2026 for general information. Laws and court decisions can change after that date. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.