22 June 2006

NEW NURSING ACT

The new nursing act has been published in Government Gazette No. 492 of 29 May 2006. The act is called the Nursing Act, 2005 and is Act No. 33 of 2005.

Attached please find a copy of Nursing Act, 2005 for your information (this Act is not yet in operation)

Your attention is drawn to the following important points in the new act:

The Nursing Act, 2005 “comes into operation on a date determined by the President by proclamation in the Gazette” – Section 62 of the Nursing Act, 2005.

Existing regulations, notices, orders, etc. remain in force

All existing regulations, notices, orders, registrations granted, etc. under the old nursing act will remain in force under the Nursing Act, 2005 – Section 61(1) of the Nursing Act, 2005. The only exception to this section being any thing that is contradictory to any provision of the new nursing act.

The Nursing Council will, together with the Department of Health, endeavour to bring all existing regulations, etc in line with the provisions of the Nursing Act, 2005 as a matter of extreme urgency. Priority will be given to those provisions of the new nursing act that do not have any existing regulations.

The current Council will not automatically be dissolved when Nursing Act, 2005 comes into operation

When the Nursing Act, 2005 comes into operation, the current Council will continue functioning and current council members will continue to be members of the council until the current Council is dissolved by the Minister of Health by notice in the Gazette (unless a particular member or members resign from the Council for any reason) – Section 61(2) and 61(3) of the Nursing Act, 2005.

There are other transitional arrangements that you should note

Section 61 of the Nursing Act, 2005 also contains some other transitional arrangements that should be studied in order to understand how the transition between the old and the new acts will be effected.

An electronic version of the act is also available for download on the Council website:

www.sanc.co.za

The electronic version is particularly useful as the table of contents is fully bookmarked to help you quickly find the section you are looking for. It is of course also fully text searchable.

(Signed)
Hasina Subedar
Registrar

NB: For further information, please contact:

The Communications Officer

Tel: (012) 420-1000

 2 March 2006

REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIVATE NURSING EDUCATION PROVIDERS OF FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUALIFICATIONS

In terms of the requirements of Section 25 of the Further Education and Training Act, 1998 (Act No. 98 of 1998), the Department of Education requires all private education institutions offering educational qualifications that fall within the Further Education and Training Band to register with the Department of Education by 30 May 2006.

Click here to see a copy of the Government Notice to this effect issued by the Minister of Education.

1.Implications for Private Nursing Education Providers currently approved by South African Nursing Council (SANC)

1.1 All private nursing education providers that are currently approved by SANC to provide educational qualifications that lead to enrolment as a Nursing Auxiliary and/or Nurse are required to submit their applications for registration as a Further Education and Training Institution to the Department of Education on or before 30 May 2006.

1.2    Failure to comply with requirements for registration with the Department of Education will leave the SANC with no option but to terminate the provisioning of nursing training at the institution due to non-compliance with a statutory requirement.

1.3    These institutions must submit proof of registration as a Further Education and Training Institution to SANC by 30 June 2006.

Proof of registration required:

i)    Certified copy of registration certificate; or

ii)    Proof of application made to the Department of Education within the required deadline of 30 May 2006. In this case, you must submit:

a)    Certified copy of your application form with proof of acknowledgement of receipt from the Department of Education; and

b)    Certified copy of registration certificate within 12 weeks of application.

1.4    The required proof of registration to be submitted to SANC via registered mail to the following address:

The Registrar
South African Nursing Council
P O Box 1123
Pretoria
0001

2.Implications for prospective Private Nursing Education Providers awaiting SANC Accreditation/Approval

2.1 Prospective nursing education providers that are awaiting accreditation by SANC as providers of nursing education qualifications that lead to enrolment as a Nursing Auxiliary and/or Nurse, will only be accredited and eligible to commence with providing nursing education and training once the provider is registered as a Further Education and Training Institution by the Department of Education.

2.2 Applications already processed will be held in abeyance until the applicant provides SANC with proof that the institution is registered as a Further Education and Training Institution i.e. a certified copy of the institution’s registration certificate.

3.Implications for prospective Private Nursing Education Providers intending to apply to SANC for Accreditation as a Nursing Education Provider

3.1 Prospective Nursing Education providers intending to apply for accreditation as providers of nursing education qualifications that lead to enrolment as a Nursing Auxiliary and/or Nurse are required to submit a certified copy of the certificate of registration as a Private Further Education and Training Institution together with their application.

3.2 No applications will be considered unless a copy of the registration certificate is provided to SANC.

(Signed)
Hasina Subedar
Registrar

NB:   For further details regarding registration, application forms and schedule of fees contact:

The Department of Education

Tel: (012) 312 5880 / 5881 / 5878
Website: http://www.education.gov.za/

Some documents on this web-site are only available in PDF format. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print the forms. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free from Adobe.

The above trademarks™ are used by kind permission of the trademark owner – Adobe Systems Incorporated of 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, CA 95110-2704.

2006-01-29

TO ALL:    NURSING EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
                   NURSING STAKEHOLDERS 

AMENDMENT OF GUIDELINES FOR THE BRIDGING COURSE FOR ENROLLED NURSES LEADING TO REGISTRATION AS A GENERAL NURSE OR PSYCHIATRIC NURSE (R.683 OF 14 APRIL 1989)

The South African Nursing Council has, over a period of time, observed that there is an overlap of content of Papers I and II of the above-named programme. This leads to a number of queries around the examination time.

The Council has therefore reviewed these guidelines as follows in order to assist the schools:

First Year Examination
Integrated General Nursing Science I

Paper I

1. Basic Medical and Surgical Nursing with regard to patients with illness of:
   a)    Cardiovascular system,
   b)    Respiratory system;
2. Operating Theatre Technique and Anaesthetics;
3. Ethos and Professional Practice; and
4. Applied Social Science.

Paper II

1. Basic Medical and Surgical Nursing with regard to patients with illness of the:
   a)     Digestive system,
   b)     Genito-urinary system,
   c)     Ear, nose and throat nursing,
   d)     Ophthalmological nursing;
2. Ethos and Professional practice; and
3. Applied Social Science.

The implementation/application of these guidelines will be effective from the July 2006 Council examination.

(Signed)
Hasina Subedar
Registrar
S A Nursing Council

7 December 2005

TO ALL:    NURSING EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
                   NURSING STAKEHOLDERS 

South African Nursing Council

23 December 2005 – 02 January 2006

South African Nursing Council will close its offices for the Christmas holidays at 16:00 on 22 December 2005 and will re-open at 08:00 on 03 January 2006.

Please contact the Communications Officer at telephone (012) 420 1000 if there are any queries about this circular.

(Signed)
Hasina Subedar
Registrar
S A Nursing Council

4 October 2005

South African Nursing Council Examination Schedule – 2006

The Examination Schedule for 2006 can be accessed on this website.

Kindly take note of the following requirements applicable to the Council examinations.

1. The closing date for examinations should be strictly adhered to and no exceptions or allowances will be made to extend these dates.
2. Only registered students/pupils will be eligible to enter for an examination, the head of the institution must ensure that all students/pupils are registered with the Council within the prescribed period (this does not apply to the Admission Examination for Enrolled Nursing or to the Admission Examination for Foreign Nurses).
3. The Council will only process examination applications that meet the following requirements:
   
   1. submitted on the Council’s Application for Examination Form which is completed in full and signed by the relevant person;
   2. accompanied by the prescribed fee or proof of payment of the fee into the Council’s bank account; and
   3. includes all the required documentation.
4. Only those students/pupils that have been issued an examination number will be eligible to write Council examinations.
5. All practical Mark Sheets must be submitted to Council by the end of the month in which the examination is written. Examination results cannot be processed if practical mark sheets are not submitted on time.
6. The Council reserves the right to cancel an examination reflected on the schedule if there are insufficient candidates for such an examinations.

(Signed)
Hasina Subedar
Registrar and Chief Executive Officer

4 August 2005

Increases in Nursing Council Fees

You are hereby notified that increases in South African Nursing Council fees have been published in the Government Gazette.

Fees that will increase on 15 August 2005

The following fees will increase as indicated on 15 August 2005.  This means that the increased fee will be payable for all amounts received on or after Monday 15 August 2005

In respect to payments made prior to 15 August 2005 :

1. A person who has paid the fees (in full) prior to the above date will not have to pay the difference between the old and the new fees.
2. If fees have been paid via postal services and the posting date on the article is before 15 August 2005, the person will not be expected to pay the difference.
3. If fees have been paid electronically and the payment appears on the Nursing Council bank statement before 15 August 2005, the person will not be expected to pay the difference.  In this regard, please check the rules of your own banking institution regarding the effective date for payments made electronically.  Council will not make any exceptions in this regard since these rules form part of the electronic banking agreement between the client and the banking institution.

Fees that will increase on 23 October 2005

The examination fees will increase as indicated on 23 October 2005.

The increases for examination fees will be implemented as follows:

1. .The increased fees for exam papers and late entries will be payable with respect to all examinations to be conducted in 2006 or later.  The closing dates for applications for examinations to be conducted in 2005 all fall before 23 October 2005.  To avoid ambiguity, the old fees will also apply to any late entries for 2005 examinations that are accepted after that date.
2. The fees to be charged for remarks will depend on the date on which the full payment for the remark is received.  Where payment is received after 22 October 2005, the remark fees will be charged at the increased rate.
3. If remark fees have been paid electronically and the payment appears on the Nursing Council bank statement before 23 October 2005, the person will not be expected to pay the difference.  In this regard, please check the rules of your own banking institution regarding the effective date for payments made electronically.  Council will not make any exceptions in this regard since these rules form part of the electronic banking agreement between the client and the banking institution. 

VAT

Please note that the above fees all include VAT at the current rate of 14%.

UPDATED REGULATIONS

These amendments to the regulations also fix outdated references to “nursing assistants” (which should be “nursing auxiliaries”) wherever these occur in the regulations.

The regulations on the Council website have been updated with these amendments.  To access the updated regulations, click on the links below.

Copies of the amendment regulations published in Government Gazette No. 27788 of 22 July 2005 are available on the Council website for your information.  Copies of the Government Gazette can also be purchased from the Government Printers.  To access the copies on the Nursing Council website, type the following address into your browser:

www.sanc.co.za/regulations-by-government-notice-number

You can also click one of the following links to select specific amendment regulations.

(Signed)
Hasina Subedar
Registrar and Chief Executive Officer