30 November 2020

South African Nursing Council – Year-end closure

The South African Nursing Council offices will be closed for the year-end from Thursday, 24 December 2020 at 12:00 midday, and re-open on Monday, 04 January 2021 at 08:00 am. Kindly note that on 24 December, for operational reasons the gates will be closed at 11: 00 am already.

Annual fees must be paid into the Council’s bank account on or before 31 December 2020 to avoid restoration fees – note that banks take up to three (3) days to clear payments and thus all bank electronic transfers need to be made by 24 December to ensure it reaches the SANC by 31 December 2020. 

The SANC banking details are:

Name of bank : First National Bank

Account number : 514 211 86 193

Branch code : 253145

Reference : Person’s own SANC Reference Number followed by ANLFEES

Whilst waiting for the Annual Practising Certificate to be posted by the SANC, the employer can verify the registration status of the practitioner through the SANC website by logging into the SANC eRegister at https://www.sanc.co.za/eregister/  To do this, they will require the practitioner’s SANC reference number or Identity Number (ID No).

Yours sincerely,

(Signed)

Ms SA Mchunu
Registrar and CEO
South African Nursing Council

6 November 2020

Extension of  Education and Training to meet outstanding clinical requirements

1. PURPOSE

The purpose of this circular is to notify the National Department of Health, Provincial Departments of Health, Nursing Education Institutions (NEIs) and other relevant stakeholders about the Council’s resolution regarding extension of education and training to meet outstanding clinical requirements resulting from an interruption in clinical education and training during national lockdown.

2. BACKGROUND

2.1. The effect of measures which were instituted to limit the spread of Corona Virus resulted in limited clinical placement for students. NEIs have indicated that to a certain degree online facilitation of theoretical learning was possible though some challenges were also experienced. The main challenge that was highlighted was regarding clinical placement of students in order to meet the clinical requirements during the current academic year especially during level 5 lockdown. Some of the challenges included the following:

• Some Nurse Educators and students tested positive and had to self-isolate;
• Close contact of the Nurse Educators and students who tested positive had to be on quarantine;
• Some units/wards were turned into COVID-19 facilities leading to reduction of platforms for clinical learning experiences that were planned;
• Limited access to clinical facilities by students created by a need to observe social distancing; and
• Other facilities allowed students to be placed during the week but not during weekends and holidays.

2.2. In the light of the above, the Council at its virtual meeting of 21-22 October 2020, resolved that in order to ensure that all the clinical requirements are met for the different nursing programmes, NEIs should consider extending the period of training to 31 March 2021. The Council further resolved that where simulation is used, it should be well structured and should not be more than 20% of the total clinical hours / work-integrated learning (WIL) per programme. This is to ensure that most clinical hours/WIL credits are acquired in the real life situation.

3. IMPLICATION

• The NEIs that have already assessed their needs and made a determination should not be affected by this circular.
• In line with this circular, records of extended training and declarations for students who will complete in March 2021 must be submitted to the SANC in May 2021.
  
  

4. IMPLEMENTATION
This Circular becomes implementable and valid on the date of issue.

For further information in respect of this Circular, you are advised to contact Ms SJ Nxumalo, SANC Senior Manager: Education & Training at (012) 420 1022 or on e-mail at: jnxumalo@sanc.co.za

Yours sincerely,

(Signed)

Ms SA Mchunu
Registrar and CEO
South African Nursing Council