Nursing Act, 2005 (Act No. 33 of 2005)RegulationsRegulations regarding the Scope of Practice for Nurses and Midwives, 20222. Scope of practice of a professional nurse |
| (1) | The Professional nurse takes responsibility and accountability for the following: |
| (a) | advocating for the profession and facilitating the establishment and maintenance of an environment in which health care can be provided safely and optimally; |
| (b) | providing safe and quality comprehensive nursing care in a scientific, integrated and evidence-based approach in all health care settings; |
| (c) | practising in terms of the Code of Ethics for Nursing Practitioners in South Africa; |
| (d) | facilitating the attainment of optimum health for the individual, the family, groups and the community; |
| (e) | promoting health and empowering healthcare users through health counselling and education to secure their active participation in achieving self-reliance; |
| (f) | assessing and interpreting the health information needs of individuals and groups, so as to plan and respond accordingly; |
| (g) | diagnosing and prioritising individual health and nursing care needs, based on a comprehensive analysis and the interpretation of data; |
| (h) | developing an integrated nursing care plan for the promotion of activities of daily living, self-care, treatment and rehabilitation of health care users, taking cognisance of their physical and psychosocial, cultural and religious needs; |
| (i) | delegating nursing care, ensuring that tasks are delegated to competent nurse practitioners or persons; |
| (j) | preparing and providing supportive nursing care to a patient throughout the administration of diagnostic , surgical and therapeutic acts; |
| (k) | implementing relevant evidence-based nursing protocols and guidelines; |
| (l) | providing emergency care; |
| (m) | providing appropriate palliative and end of life nursing care; |
| (n) | managing nursing care of individuals, groups and communities; integrating psycho-social care in the management of individuals, groups and communities; |
| (o) | evaluating a healthcare user's progress towards expected outcomes and revising health and nursing care plans in accordance with the newly identified needs emanating from the evaluation; |
| (p) | creating and maintaining a concise, complete and accurate nursing record for individual healthcare users; |
| (q) | referring a healthcare user timeously and appropriately to other members of the multidisciplinary team; |
| (r) | facilitating continuity of care in collaboration with relevant members of the healthcare team; |
| (s) | initiating and maintaining a therapeutic relationship for all health care users; |
| (t) | providing direction for the implementation of the nursing care plan; |
| (u) | ensuring safe implementation of nursing care, the execution of treatment and the administration of medication prescribed by an authorized registered person; |
| (v) | ensuring disaster preparedness and response; |
| (w) | preventing and managing healthcare user's adverse events; and |
| (x) | managing and coordinating nursing care effectively within a health establishment. |
| (2) | A professional nurse must: |
| (a) | implement and manage a quality improvement plan for own context of practice; |
| (b) | review nursing practice continuously against professional standards within a relevant context; and take responsibility to monitor their actual application in practice; and |
| (c) | supervise and mentor student nurses and other nursing categories. |
| (3) | The scope of practice of a Professional Nurse shall include the scope of practice of a midwife. |
| (4) | A professional nurse may not: |
| (a) | set up a private practice without registration as a nurse specialist; and |
| (b) | act as an assistant surgeon to a medical practitioner. |