State officials say they're concerned with a backlog of complaints that have been filed with the Georgia Board of Nursing.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported it takes the board an average of 15 months to make a decision on a complaint against a nurse.

The board officially has 3,340 open cases and the newspaper reports 434 nurses are on continuing probation.

Aside from the complaint backlog, state law doesn't require health facilities to file reports to state officials about nurses who make errors during treatment or abuse drugs on the job — allowing them to move on to another job without disclosing shortcomings at their last one.

Rep. Sharon Cooper, a Marietta Republican and nurse, says she's concerned with the backlog and had been unaware of its scope.

Tags: health, nursing, gpbwell, georgia board of nursing, complaint backlog