OH HB314

Amends Ohio Revised Code sections 2105.35 and 2108.40 to authorize registered nurses to determine and pronounce death in addition to physicians.

Registered nurses may only pronounce death when the individual's respiratory and circulatory functions are not artificially sustained and either: the individual was receiving care in a nursing home, residential care facility, home for the aging, county home, or residential facility for the developmentally disabled, or the nurse is providing or supervising care through a hospice or palliative care program.

Requires registered nurses to notify the individual's attending physician of the death determination and pronouncement within a reasonable time so the physician can fulfill duties under section 3705.16.

Registered nurses are prohibited from completing any portion of the individual's death certificate.

Provides liability immunity for registered nurses who determine and pronounce death in accordance with the statute and accepted medical standards, as well as for persons acting in good faith reliance on such determinations.