Veterinary and Para-Veterinary Professions Act, 1982 (Act No. 19 of 1982)RulesRules relating to the Practising of Para-Veterinary Profession of Veterinary Nurse1. Definitions |
Any word or expression in this Schedule to which a meaning has been assigned in the Act shall have that meaning, and "the Act" means Veterinary and Para-Veterinary Professions Act, 1982 (Act No. 19 of 1982), and the regulations made thereunder:
means that a veterinary nurse may open a veterinary nursing facility, and from that facility render the services set out in rule 2(2), subject to the following conditions:
| (i) | That the veterinary nurse enters into a written agreement with one or more veterinary professionals separately, indicating that that veterinary professional or group of professionals will refer patients to, or work in consultation with, the said veterinary nurse on an ad hoc basis; |
| (ii) | The agreement must contain details of: |
| • | how often and in what format the veterinary nurse would report back to the veterinary professional regarding the patient’s progress; |
| • | how instructions regarding the patient’s care and/or treatment will be given to the veterinary nurse by the veterinary professional; and |
| • | how emergencies which may occur during the treatment will be dealt with; and |
| (iii) | The agreement must further contain an undertaking that no fee (money or in kind) is payable in respect of any referral in terms of the agreement. |
means such a level of physical or mental impairment, which includes substance abuse or addiction, that may affect the practice of the veterinary nurse to such an extent that the welfare of the patient/s, the interest of a client and/or the image of the profession may be compromised;
means the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act, 1965, Act No.101 of 1965, as amended from time to time;
means a medicine or veterinary medicine as defined in section 1 of the Medicines Act;
means any form of identification approved by the council, including epaulettes, worn by a veterinary nurse which identifies the veterinary nurse as such;
refers to a subset, for example collecting whole blood specimens from 10 animals from a group of 100 would constitute a sample;
refers to a single subject (for example a single blood collection tube containing whole blood);
means warning signs that suggest that referral back to the relevant veterinarian is be warranted. Some of the warning signs may include, but are not limited to:
| (i) | Unexplained changes in bodyweight; |
| (ii) | Loss of appetite or inappetence; |
| (iii) | Any change in demeanour and/or mentation; |
| (iv) | New clinical signs unrelated to the condition under treatment; |
| (v) | Respiratory distress - tachypnoea, respiratory effort, cyanosis; |
| (vi) | Cardiovascular distress- tachycardia, hypotension, pale mucous membrane [MM], slow or rapid capillary refill time (CRT); |
| (vii) | Patient not responding to therapy as expected; |
| (viii) | Unexplained pain or discomfort; and |
| (ix) | Suspected zoonoses and/or contagious diseases. |
means, unless otherwise indicated:
“direct supervision” means that the veterinary nurse receives instructions from a person registered to practice a veterinary profession, within his/her scope of practice and carries out the instructions in that person’s presence provided that the person gives the veterinary nurse and the patient, his/her undivided attention; and
“indirect supervision” means that the veterinary nurse receives written or verbal instructions, within his/her scope of practice, from a person registered to practice a veterinary profession, and carries out the instructions while the registered veterinary professional need not be on the premises where professional services are being rendered, but must be readily available by telephone or some other form of communication and assume responsibility for the veterinary services given to the patient or services rendered by a person working under his/her direction.
means unprofessional, dishonourable or unworthy conduct as set out in rule 4;
means a facility registered with Council from which a veterinary nurse may render services in accordance with rule 2(1) for own account and which complies with the minimum standards.