Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 9 of chapter 46 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-

A nurse practitioner, after the death of a person who was a patient under the care of such nurse practitioner, may declare the person dead. Before making a pronouncement of death, a nurse practitioner shall make a reasonable effort to contact the attending physician or medical examiner. A pronouncement of death under this paragraph shall be made in writing on a form approved by the commissioner of public health and subscribed under the pains and penalties of perjury. A physician or the medical examiner shall be notified forthwith of the exact location to which the decedent has been removed.

SECTION 2. Section 45 of chapter 114 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "nurse", in line 27, the following words:- , a nurse practitioner.