Source: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title54.1/chapter29/section54.1-2972/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 23:51:57+00:00

Document:
§ 54.1-2972. When person deemed medically and legally dead; determination of death; nurses' or physician assistants' authority to pronounce death under certain circumstances.
2. In the opinion of a physician, who shall be duly licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth and board-eligible or board-certified in the field of neurology, neurosurgery, or critical care medicine, when based on the ordinary standards of medical practice, there is irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem, and, in the opinion of such physician, based on the ordinary standards of medical practice and considering the irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem, and the patient's medical record, further attempts at resuscitation or continued supportive maintenance would not be successful in restoring such functions, and, in such event, death shall be deemed to have occurred at the time when all such functions have ceased.
B. A registered nurse or a physician assistant who practices under the supervision of a physician may pronounce death if the following criteria are satisfied: (i) the nurse is employed by or the physician assistant works at (a) a home health organization as defined in § 32.1-162.7, (b) a hospice as defined in § 32.1-162.1, (c) a hospital or nursing home as defined in § 32.1-123, including state-operated hospitals for the purposes of this section, (d) the Department of Corrections, or (e) a continuing care retirement community registered with the State Corporation Commission pursuant to Chapter 49 (§ 38.2-4900 et seq.) of Title 38.2; (ii) the nurse or physician assistant is directly involved in the care of the patient; (iii) the patient's death has occurred; (iv) the patient is under the care of a physician when his death occurs; (v) the patient's death has been anticipated; (vi) the physician is unable to be present within a reasonable period of time to determine death; and (vii) there is a valid Do Not Resuscitate Order pursuant to § 54.1-2987.1 for the patient who has died. The nurse or physician assistant shall inform the patient's attending and consulting physicians of his death as soon as practicable.
The nurse or physician assistant shall have the authority to pronounce death in accordance with such procedural regulations, if any, as may be promulgated by the Board of Medicine; however, if the circumstances of the death are not anticipated or the death requires an investigation by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the nurse or physician assistant shall notify the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of the death and the body shall not be released to the funeral director.
This subsection shall not authorize a nurse or physician assistant to determine the cause of death. Determination of cause of death shall continue to be the responsibility of the attending physician, except as provided in § 32.1-263. Further, this subsection shall not be construed to impose any obligation to carry out the functions of this subsection.
This subsection shall not relieve any registered nurse or physician assistant from any civil or criminal liability that might otherwise be incurred for failure to follow statutes or Board of Nursing or Board of Medicine regulations.
C. The alternative definitions of death provided in subdivisions A 1 and A 2 may be utilized for all purposes in the Commonwealth, including the trial of civil and criminal cases.
Code 1950, § 32-364.3:1; 1973, c. 252; 1979, c. 720, § 54-325.7; 1986, c. 237; 1988, c. 765; 1996, c. 1028; 1997, cc. 107, 453; 2002, c. 92; 2004, c. 92; 2010, c. 46; 2011, c. 613; 2012, c. 136; 2014, cc. 73, 583; 2016, c. 97.

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