Source: http://www.wvlegislature.gov/bill_status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB433%20intr.htm&yr=2016&sesstype=RS&i=433
Timestamp: 2020-07-10 12:39:41
Document Index: 346262686

Matched Legal Cases: ['§16', '§16', '§16', '§16', '§16', '§16']

A BILL to amend and reenact §16-5-19 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §16-30-3 and §16-30-25 of said code, all relating to allowing advance practice registered nurses and physician assistants to complete physician orders for scope of treatment; allowing advance practice registered nurses and physician assistants to sign death certificates; and defining terms.
That §16-5-19 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that §16-30-3 and §16-30-25 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
(1) Obtain the personal data from the next of kin or the best qualified person or source available including the deceased person=s social security number or numbers, which shall be placed in the records relating to the death and recorded on the certificate of death;
(1) In the absence of the physician or with his or her approval, the certificate may be completed by his or her associate physician, any physician who has been placed in a position of responsibility for any medical coverage of the decedent, the chief medical officer of the institution in which death occurred, an advance practice registered nurse as defined in article seven, chapter thirty of this code or a physician assistant as defined in article three-e, chapter thirty of this code or the physician who performed an autopsy upon the decedent, provided inquiry is not required pursuant to chapter sixty-one, article twelve of this code.
(1) If the cause of death cannot be determined within forty-eight hours after taking charge of the case, the medical examiner shall complete the medical certification with a APending@ cause of death to be amended upon completion of medical investigation.
(2) After investigation of a report of death for which inquiry is required, if the state Medical Examiner or designee or county medical examiner or county coroner decline jurisdiction, the state Medical Examiner or designee or county medical examiner or county coroner may direct the decedent=s family physician or the physician who pronounces death to complete the certification of death: Provided, That the physician is not civilly liable for inaccuracy or other incorrect statement of death unless the physician willfully and knowingly provides information he or she knows to be false.
(h) When death is presumed to have occurred within this state but the body cannot be located, a certificate of death may be prepared by the State Registrar only upon receipt of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction which shall include the finding of facts required to complete the certificate of death. The certificate of death will be marked APresumptive@ and will show on its face the date of death as determined by the court and the date of registration, and shall identify the court and the date of the order.
(a) "Actual knowledge" means the possession of information of the person=s wishes communicated to the health care provider orally or in writing by the person, the person=s medical power of attorney representative, the person=s health care surrogate or other individuals resulting in the health care provider=s personal cognizance of these wishes. Constructive notice and other forms of imputed knowledge are not actual knowledge.
(c) "Advanced nurse practitioner" means a registered nurse with substantial theoretical knowledge in a specialized area of nursing practice and proficient clinical utilization of the knowledge in implementing the nursing process, and who has met the further requirements of title 19, legislative rules for West Virginia board of examiners for registered professional nurses, series 7 , who has a mutually agreed upon association in writing with a physician and has been selected by or assigned to the person and has primary responsibility for treatment and care of the person. “Advance practice registered nurse” means the same as that term is defined in section one, article seven, chapter thirty of this code.
(u) “Physician assistant” means a person defined and licensed as set forth in article three-e, chapter thirty of this code.
(u) (v) APhysician orders for scope of treatment (POST) form@ means a standardized form containing orders by a qualified physician that details a person=s life-sustaining wishes as provided by section twenty-five of this article.
(v) (w) "Principal" means a person who has executed a living will or medical power of attorney.
(w) (x) "Protected person" means an adult who, pursuant to the provisions of chapter forty-four-a of this code, has been found by a court, because of mental impairment, to be unable to receive and evaluate information effectively or to respond to people, events and environments to an extent that the individual lacks the capacity to: (1) Meet the essential requirements for his or her health, care, safety, habilitation or therapeutic needs without the assistance or protection of a guardian; or (2) manage property or financial affairs to provide for his or her support or for the support of legal dependents without the assistance or protection of a conservator.
(x) (y) "Qualified physician" means a physician licensed to practice medicine who has personally examined the person.
(y) (z) "Qualified psychologist" means a psychologist licensed to practice psychology who has personally examined the person.
(z) (aa) "Surrogate decisionmaker" or "surrogate" means an individual eighteen years of age or older who is reasonably available, is willing to make health care decisions on behalf of an incapacitated person, possesses the capacity to make health care decisions and is identified or selected by the attending physician or advanced nurse practitioner in accordance with the provisions of this article as the person who is to make those decisions in accordance with the provisions of this article.
(aa) (bb) "Terminal condition" means an incurable or irreversible condition as diagnosed by the attending physician or a qualified physician for which the administration of life-prolonging intervention will serve only to prolong the dying process
(b) Physician orders for scope of treatment forms shall be standardized forms used to reflect orders by a qualified physician or an advance practice registered nurse or physician assistant as defined in this article for medical treatment of a person in accordance with that person=s wishes or, if that person=s wishes are not reasonably known and cannot with reasonable diligence be ascertained, in accordance with that person=s best interest. The form shall be bright pink in color to facilitate recognition by emergency medical services personnel and other health care providers and shall be designed to provide for information regarding the care of the patient, including, but not limited to, the following:
(1) The orders of a qualified physician or an advance practice registered nurse or physician assistant as defined in this article regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation, level of medical intervention in the event of a medical emergency, use of antibiotics and use of medically administered fluids and nutrition and the basis for the orders;
(2) The signature of the qualified physician or an advance practice registered nurse or physician assistant as defined in this article;
(c) The physician advance practice registered nurse or physician assistant orders for scope of treatment form shall be kept as the first page in a person=s medical record in a health care facility unless otherwise specified in the health care facility=s policies and procedures and shall be transferred with the person from one health care facility to another.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow advance practice registered nurses and physician assistants to complete orders for physician orders for scope of treatment forms and to pronounce death and sign a death certificate.