News from
South African Nursing Council
The articles and links on this page will keep you up to date with
developments in the professional side of nursing and midwifery in the Republic
of South Africa. Please add this page to your favourites so that you can
check back here regularly for the latest information.
INTERNATIONAL
NURSES DAY 2013
12 May 2013
Message from the Chairperson of the
South African Nursing Council
International Nurses day is celebrated annually on 12th May to commemorate the birth of Florence Nightingale who made a significant contribution towards the nursing profession.
This day also presents nurses globally with an opportunity to remember and reflect on the meaning and value of their contribution in the delivery of health care.
The theme for 2013 is Closing the Gap: the Millennium Development Goals: 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
The South African Nursing Council, as the statutory body has developed a range of enabling instruments for nurses to take a lead towards the achievement of the United Nations health related Millennium Development Goals (4, 5 and 6) which focuses on the reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
As carers in the coalface of disease; pain; helplessness and despair, I am also grateful that working together we have indeed made remarkable strides in many areas including the notable successes in reversing the tide of HIV and AIDS.
Today our country under the leadership guidance of Honourable President Jacob Zuma is hailed as a shining example having succeeded in putting more than 1, 7 million people on life saving Antiretroviral treatment; on bringing in more than 20 million people to test for HIV and most remarkably reducing the mother to child transmission rate from 8% in 2008 to 3.5 per cent in 2010 and to 2.7 per cent in
2011. One thing is certain, the above could not have been achieved without the involvement of appropriately skilled committed and compassionate nurses.
Today as we celebrate this all important day we also need to be mindful of the fact that our country has a responsibility as directed by the African Union under the auspices of the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality in Africa (CARMMA) to ensure that indeed,
"No Woman Should Die While Giving Life!" Again midwives of our country have the expertise, skills and clinical acumen to ensure that both the mother and the new-bon baby come out alive and well to be celebrated as a gift to their families.
Our work as nurses in this country is never going to be an easy one due to the fact that the South African health system is predominantly nurse driven. On behalf of SANC, I salute and commend those nurses who regardless of all challenges encountered within the health care system, still prioritize the wellbeing of the patients. Thus contributing the long and healthy life for all.
Issued by
The Chairperson: Dr JN Makhanya
South African Nursing Council
Nursing Council warns public to beware of unaccredited nursing programmes
3 April 2013
South African Nursing Council has once again
issued a
press release warning the public to beware of illegal "nursing
training" that is not accredited by the Council or that is being conducted by institutions that have not been accredited
by the Council.
Click
here to see a copy of the press release.
Data-base for Post Basic
Programmes
19 March 2013
The Nursing Council has requested interested parties to make
submissions (with full motivations) of suggestions for the develepment of future
Post Basic Programmes . Full details of the request with all requirements
can be found in circular 3/2013.
New and Amended Regulations Published
19 March
2013
Five new regulations have been published in the Gazette on 8
March 2013. Three are for the new nursing programmes, one for the accreditation
of nursing education institutions and one regarding the fees and fines
payable to Council. Also published was a few small amendments to the
transitional arrangements of the "Register" regulations (R.195 of 19
February 2008), together with a Government Notice necessary to implement
these. For full details, see circular
2/2013.
14 February 2013
Consultation
on Competencies for the Nurse/Midwife Specialist
The South African Nursing Council is in the process of developing competencies (scope of practice) for the Advanced Practice Nurses (Nurse/Midwife specialists). These competencies are meant to define roles and responsibilities of nurse specialist within their respective areas of specialization and will help define the educational preparation necessary for such roles and responsibilities.
To this end, the Council has had consultative workshops with representatives of nurse specialists in the defined areas of specialization, most of whom were drawn from identifiable/existing National Associations/Societies for nursing specializations. Nurse specialists were drawn from both education and practice. Draft sets of competencies have been generated from this process.
The Council values the input of other nurse specialists who have not been part of this process and therefore requests
the participation of specialists who are involved in the following areas:
* Community Health Nursing
* Nephrology Nursing
* Occupational Health Nursing (OHN)
* Ophthalmic Nursing
* Orthopaedic Nursing
* Paediatric Nursing
The necessary documents have been posted on a secure drop box website and the
response form is given both as a PDF (print for hand written responses) or a
Word document (if you wish to fill in the form on computer). You will need an
secure link to access the forms. The links will be sent to specialists whose
contact details SANC has on file. If you are involved in one of the above
and you do not receive the link by SMS or email by end of business today, you can request the links by
email from:
vmthethwa@sanc.co.za
Please include your SANC number, full names and cellphone number in the
email. This will enable us to update your communication details.
TAKE NOTE that the closing date for comments to be received is 28 February
2013.
Your cooperation in this matter will be greatly appreciated.
Nomination of members to serve on the 15th Council
The nomination process has now ended and the evaluation
of nominations will now take place. Once new Council members are
appointed, the information will be published here.
Nomination
and appointment of members to serve on the Council
A notice calling for nomination of persons to serve as
members of the Nursing Council for the period June 2013 to 2018 has been
published by the Minister of Health.
Click
here to see a copy of the notice published in the Sunday Times of 7 October
2012.
In terms of the arrangements in the notice, the following documents can be
downloaded and printed from the Nursing Council website:-
Nursing
Act, 2005 (Act No. 33 of 2005)
Regulations
relating to the Nomination and Appointment of Members of the Council (Government
Notice No. R.20 of 16 January 2008)
Prescribed
Nomination Form
Charter
of Good Practice for Councillors
Covenant
for Councillors
Application
for Certificate of Good Standing
Please watch this space for further information about the nomination process and
progress.
New
Nursing Qualifications
The South African Nursing Council approved the
following new nursing qualifications and resolved to submit the same to South
African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) for inclusion in the National
Qualifications Framework (NQF).
Bachelors
in Nursing
Diploma
in Nursing
Higher
Certificate: Auxiliary Nursing
Advanced
Diploma in Midwifery
These qualifications are aligned to the new higher education framework and
Council is currently developing the regulations, policies and guidelines for the
programmes.
The following related documents are published for your information.
Nursing
Education and Training Standards
New
Qualifications - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Licensing of Nursing Agencies no longer a function of
South African Nursing Council
29 November 2012
The Council no longer provides the function of licensing Nursing
Agencies. For further information, see circular
10/2012.
Extension of the date of offering legacy nursing
qualifications and progress towards the implementation of new nursing
qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF)
3
October
2012
For latest news on the subject of legacy qualifications, please see Circular
7/2012.
Annual and Restoration Fees for 2013
29 June 2012
Annual fees for 2013
The annual fees for the calendar year 2013 can be paid from 25
July 2012.
PLEASE
NOTE THAT THE ANNUAL FEES MUST BE PAID BEFORE 31 DECEMBER 2012
WARNING
If you pay your annual fee after 31 December 2012 (even by 1
day), your name will be removed from the register, and you will
have to pay the full restoration fee to have you name restored
The Council allows
practitioners who are 60 years of age or older on 1 January 2013 a discount on
the Annual Fees (depending on their age on that date). This is intended to
permit practitioners who may have retired to keep their name on the register
should they wish. Having their name on the register will enable such
practitioners to work on a part-time basis or to assist with local or national
needs or programmes in a temporary capacity if called upon to do so.
Please note that Council has decided to grant discount based on the ages
indicated rather than retirement status because there is not a standard
retirement age in South Africa.
The 2013 annual fee amounts for the different categories are set out in the table
below.
