TITLE 31 HEALTH

Section 7. Regulation and Construction of Hospitals and Other Health Care Facilities, 31-7-1 through 31-7-412.

ARTICLE 1 REGULATION OF HOSPITALS AND RELATED INSTITUTIONS

31-7-16. Determination or pronouncement of death of patient who died in facility classified as nursing home.

When a patient dies in any facility classified as a nursing home by the department and operating under a permit issued by the department, a physician assistant, a nurse practitioner, or a registered professional nurse licensed in this state and employed by such nursing home at the time of apparent death of such person, in the absence of a physician, may make the determination and pronouncement of the death of said patient; provided, however, that when it appears that a patient died from other than natural causes, only a physician may make the determination or pronouncement of death. Such determination or pronouncement shall be made in writing on a form approved by the department.

(Code 1981, §31-7-16, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 1243, § 1; Ga. L. 2009, p. 859, § 3/HB 509; Ga. L. 2017, p. 625, § 1/SB 96.)

The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, in the first sentence, inserted ", a nurse practitioner," near the beginning and deleted "that, when said patient is a registered organ donor, only a physician may make the determination or pronouncement of death; provided, further," preceding "that when it" near the end.