Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3912 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R1076 LED-D
2	2	By: Phelan H.B. No. 3912
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the authority of advanced practice registered nurses to
8	8	pronounce death and sign death certificates.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 671.001(d), Health and Safety Code, is
11	11	amended to read as follows:
12	12	(d) A registered nurse, including an advanced practice
13	13	registered nurse, or physician assistant may determine and
14	14	pronounce a person dead in situations other than those described by
15	15	Subsection (b) if permitted by written policies of a licensed
16	16	health care facility, institution, or entity providing services to
17	17	that person. Those policies must include physician assistants who
18	18	are credentialed or otherwise permitted to practice at the
19	19	facility, institution, or entity. If the facility, institution, or
20	20	entity has an organized nursing staff and an organized medical
21	21	staff or medical consultant, the nursing staff and medical staff or
22	22	consultant shall jointly develop and approve those policies. The
23	23	board shall adopt rules to govern policies for facilities,
24	24	institutions, or entities that do not have organized nursing staffs
25	25	and organized medical staffs or medical consultants.
26	26	SECTION 2. Section 671.002(a), Health and Safety Code, is
27	27	amended to read as follows:
28	28	(a) A physician who determines death in accordance with
29	29	Section 671.001(b) or a registered nurse, including an advanced
30	30	practice registered nurse, or physician assistant who determines
31	31	death in accordance with Section 671.001(d) is not liable for civil
32	32	damages or subject to criminal prosecution for the physician's,
33	33	registered nurse's, or physician assistant's actions or the actions
34	34	of others based on the determination of death.
35	35	SECTION 3. Sections 193.005(a), (b), and (c), Health and
36	36	Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
37	37	(a) A person required to file a death certificate or fetal
38	38	death certificate shall obtain the required medical certification
39	39	from an attending physician or advanced practice registered nurse
40	40	if the death occurred under medical attendance for the care and
41	41	treatment of the condition or disease process that contributed to
42	42	the death.
43	43	(b) The attending physician or advanced practice registered
44	44	nurse shall complete the medical certification not later than five
45	45	days after receiving the death certificate.
46	46	(c) An associate physician, the chief medical officer of the
47	47	institution where the death occurred, an advanced practice
48	48	registered nurse, or the physician who performed an autopsy on the
49	49	decedent may complete the medical certification if:
50	50	(1) the attending physician or advanced practice
51	51	registered nurse is unavailable;
52	52	(2) the attending physician or advanced practice
53	53	registered nurse approves; and
54	54	(3) the person completing the medical certification
55	55	has access to the medical history of the case and the death is due to
56	56	natural causes.
57	57	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
58	58	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
59	59	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
60	60	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
61	61	Act takes effect September 1, 2015.