INSTRUCTIONS FOR REGISTRATION IN THE CATEGORY COMMUNITY SERVICE
1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1
The policy regarding Community
Service is set out in section 40 of the Nursing Act, 2005 (Act No. 33 of 2005)
and in the Regulations Relating to Performance of Community Service published in
Government Notice No. 765 of 24 August 2005.
1.2
Section 40(1) of the Nursing Act,
2005 states that, “A person who is a citizen of
South Africa intending to register for the first
time to practise a profession in a prescribed category must perform remunerated
community service for a period of one year at a public health facility”.
1.3
Regulation 2.1 of the Regulations
Relating to Performance of Community Service states that, “Any person who is
a citizen of South Africa intending
to register for the first time as a professional nurse in terms of the Act, as
having met the prescribed requirements to qualify as such, must perform
remunerated community service for a period of one year”.
1.4
As a transitional provision,
regulation 8(a) of the Regulations Relating to Performance of Community Service
states that, “These regulations are applicable to any person who seeks
registration on completing and meeting the requirements prescribed in the
Regulations Relating to the Approval of and the Minimum Requirements for the
Education and Training of a Nurse (General, Psychiatric and Community) and
Midwife Leading to Registration published in Government Notice No. R.425 of
22 February 1985, or any subsequent
regulation made to replace it”.
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2.
PURPOSE OF THE
DOCUMENT
2.1
The purpose of this document is to
guide applicants, health establishments and Nursing Education Institutions (NEI’s)
on the process to be followed when submitting applications for registration in
the category Community Service.
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3.
REQUIREMENTS
FOR REGISTRATION IN THE CATEGORY COMMUNITY SERVICE
3.1
The applicant must be a South
African citizen.
3.2
The applicant must intend
registering for the first time as professional nurse.
3.3
The applicant must have completed
the course and met the minimum requirements prescribed for the education and
training of a Nurse (General, Psychiatric and Community) and Midwife OR,
in the case of an applicant who did not study at a South African NEI, the
applicant must have been issued a similar qualification outside South Africa.
3.4
The Department of Health must have
allocated the applicant a place at a designated health establishment where the
applicant will perform community service.
3.5
A completed Application for
registration in the category Community Service must be lodged with the South
African Nursing Council.
3.6
If the applicant studied at a South
African NEI, the application must be submitted within 30 days of completion of
the course.
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4.
THE
APPLICATION PROCESS
Please note
that the application process described here only applies to
those applicants who qualified at a South African NEI.
Applicants who qualified outside South Africa should follow the normal
procedure to apply for registration of a qualification obtained outside South
Africa. If after evaluation of your qualification it is determined that you
qualify for registration as professional nurse, you will be notified of the
correct procedure to be followed to apply to be registered in the category
Community Service.
4.1
The
application form
4.1.1
Applications must be made on an
official application form SANC-4-22
obtainable from the Nursing Council for that purpose.
Forms can also be downloaded and printed from the Nursing Council website (www.sanc.co.za).
4.1.2
There are two different types of
forms. One is for applicants who completed the course at a South African NEI
(SANC-4-22)
and the other is for applicants who obtained a qualification outside South
Africa (SANC-4-23). Please make sure that you use the correct type of form.
4.1.3
Forms must be filled in using a
ballpoint pen and all required information should be neatly and clearly
PRINTED.
4.1.4
NEI’s may find it helpful to fill
in the following information (required on the second page) before photo-copying
the forms:
·
Nursing Education Institution
Number;
·
Name of Nursing Education
Institution;
·
Name of Qualification (the name of
the qualification as it will appear on the Diploma or Degree Certificate issued
by the NEI);
·
Name and SANC Reference Number of
the Head of the Nursing Education Institution.
4.1.5
The duly completed application form
must be signed by both the applicant and the head of the NEI.
4.1.6
The official stamp of the NEI must
be placed in the space provided next to the signature of the head of the NEI.
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4.2
Attachments
to be submitted with the application
4.2.1
Certified copy
of South African Identity Document or passport.
4.2.2
Certified copy
of marriage certificate if applicable.
4.2.3
Official transcript of training for
the course.
4.2.4
Registration fee of R150-00
(including VAT) or proof of payment thereof.
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4.3
Submission of
the application
4.3.1
The application must be submitted
to the Nursing Council within 30 days of completion of the course.
4.3.2
The head of the NEI is responsible
for checking all applications for completeness and correctness, including
ensuring that all attachments are included and correctly certified (where
necessary).
4.3.3
All application forms should be
submitted under a covering letter from the NEI listing the SANC Reference Number
and Full Names of each applicant whose application is included with the letter.
4.3.4
The head of the NEI is responsible
for ensuring that the correct registration fees are paid by each applicant.
Council recommends that NEI’s collect the fees from applicants and issue their
own cheque for the full amount rather than submitting individual payments. In
particular, the practice of submitting individual postal orders for each
applicant is stongly discouraged. If payment is made directly
into the Nursing Council bank account, then proof of any such payment must be
submitted together with the application.
4.3.5
If for whatever reason, postal
orders have to be used for the payment of the registration fees, the head of the
NEI must check that each postal order:
·
Is for the correct amount – ie.
R150-00 exactly;
·
Is made out to South African
Nursing Council, SA Nursing Council, or SANC (not to SA Nursery
Council, SAMC, etc.); and
·
Will not expire before it reaches
the Nursing Council (postal orders expire after 3 months).
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5.
REGISTRATION
IN THE CAPACITY COMMUNITY SERVICE
Please note
that at this point the applicant ceases to be an applicant and now
becomes a practitioner. We will therefore stop using the term
applicant and continue using the term practitioner. However, please be
assured that we are talking about the same person.
5.1
If everything in the application is
in order, the Nursing Council will issue the practitioner with a certificate of
registration in the capacity Community Service.
5.2
The certificate will be valid for a
period of two years from the end of the month in which the practitioner
completed his/her course.
5.3
The certificate will limit the
practitioner to performing community service in the province indicated on the
application form.
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6.
COMMENCEMENT
OF COMMUNITY SERVICE
6.1
The practitioner must immediately
inform the Nursing Council as soon as he or she has assumed duty of the date on
which he /she assumed duty and must confirm the name of the designated public
health establishment where he or she is performing community service.
6.2
The notice in 6.1 must be submitted
on form SANC-4-24
obtainable from the Nursing Council for that purpose. Forms can
also be downloaded and printed from the Nursing Council website (www.sanc.co.za).
6.3
The Notice of Commencement of
Community Service must be signed by both the practitioner and the head of the
public health establishment and the stamp of the establishment should be placed
on the form next to the signature of the head of the establishment.
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7.
DURATION OF
COMMUNITY SERVICE
7.1
Community Service must be performed
for a period of twelve months.
7.2
Any interruption or break in the
service must be made up within a period of 2 years calculated from the date of
commencement of the Community Service.
7.3
If the 12 months of Community
Service is not completed within the 2 years limit, the period already served
shall lapse and the practitioner will have to redo the full period of community
service.
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8.
COMMUNITY
SERVICE PLACEMENT
8.1
Only designated public health
establishment or complexes of public health establishments can be utilized to
perform community service.
8.2
A practitioner who does his or her
service in an establishment not designated by the Minister of Health will
not be registered and the period of community service will not be
recognized.
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9.
COMPLETION OF
COMMUNITY SERVICE
9.1
On completion of community service,
the head of the public health establishment must submit a completion report with
a declaration signed by both the head of the establishment and Provincial
Coordinator for Community Service to the Nursing Council.
9.2
The completion report in 9.1 must
be submitted on form SANC-4-25
obtainable from the Nursing Council for that purpose.
Forms can also be downloaded and printed from the Nursing Council website (www.sanc.co.za).
9.3
The completion report must be
submitted to the Nursing Council within 30 days of completion of community
service.
9.4
The completion report must be accompanied by registration fees of R300-00
(including VAT) or proof of payment thereof. (The R300-00 is made up of
R150-00 for registration as Nurse and R150-00 for registration as Midwife.)
9.5
If everything is in order, the
Nursing Council will delete the registration in the capacity Community Service
and will register the practitioner as Professional Nurse with effect from the
end of the month in which community service was completed.
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10.
EXEMPTIONS
10.1
Exemption will be granted to
persons who may have performed a similar service elsewhere.
10.2
Persons referred to in 10.1 are not
automatically exempted. Any such person must apply to the Minister of
Health for exemption and must together with the application provide the Minister
with proof of such service.
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11.
FURTHER
ASSISTANCE
11.1
Please contact the Nursing Council
if you have any queries that are not answered in these instructions.
11.2
Every effort has been made to
ensure that there are no errors in these instructions or the various forms
applicable to Community Service. However, if you do spot an error, please let
us know so that we can correct it. Your feedback will be appreciated – thank
you.
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NOTES:
2010-07-09
The section relatiing to Special Concessions for the January 2008 Implementation
of Community Service has now been removed from these instructions.
™
Download a copy
of the application form - for applicants who completed a course in South African
™
Download a
copy of the application form - for applicants who
obtained a qualification outside South Africa
™
Download a copy of the
Notice of Commencement of Community Service
™
Download a copy of the
Community Service Completion Report
™
Download a copy of these
Instructions for Registration in the Category Community Service
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™
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