I do it by sending the status with a regular interval... so that you can see from the Last Update time in the device panel (Vera).

like this example:

/*
* Motion Sensor Version 1.1
*
* November 7, 2014
* -Added pushing text status to V_VAR1
*
* Version 1 - October 4, 2014
* -Modified to transmit on state change
* -removed Sleep for mains-only device
* -Updates gateway according to UPDATE_INTERVAL
*
*/
#include <MySensor.h>
#include <SPI.h>
//
#define DEBUG
//
#define DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR 3
#define RADIO_ID 2
#define CHILD_ID 1
#define UPDATE_INTERVAL 60000UL  // 1 minute
//
boolean lastSensorState;

//
MySensor gw;
//
MyMessage stateMsg(CHILD_ID, V_TRIPPED);
MyMessage updateMsg(CHILD_ID, V_VAR1);
//
void setup()
{
  gw.begin(NULL, RADIO_ID, false);
  #ifdef DEBUG
    Serial.begin(115200);
  #endif
  gw.sendSketchInfo("MotionSensor", "V1.1");
  pinMode(DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR, INPUT);
  gw.present(CHILD_ID, S_MOTION);
}
//
void loop()
{
  boolean sensorState = digitalRead(DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR);
  if (sensorState != lastSensorState)
  {
    #ifdef DEBUG
      digitalWrite(13, sensorState ? HIGH : LOW);
      Serial.println(sensorState ? "Tripped" : "Not Tripped");
    #endif
    gw.send(stateMsg.set(sensorState ? "1" : "0"));
  }
  lastSensorState = sensorState;
  updateStatus(UPDATE_INTERVAL);
}
//
void updateStatus(unsigned long updateInterval)
{
  static unsigned long lastUpdate;
  if (millis() - lastUpdate >= updateInterval)
  {
    gw.send(updateMsg.set(lastSensorState ? "Motion Detected" : "No Motion"));
    #ifdef DEBUG
      digitalWrite(13, lastSensorState ? HIGH : LOW);
      Serial.println(lastSensorState ? F("Tripped") : F("Not Tripped"));
    #endif
    lastUpdate += updateInterval;
  }
}