Question NW2044 to the Minister of Health
12 June 2023 - NW2044
Clarke, Ms M to ask the Minister of Health
(1)With reference to the DA having received complaints that 4th year B Nursing students are working double the number of hours required by the SA Nursing Council (SANC) and that they might not graduate at the end of May 2023 due to this discrepancy and the impact of the Nehawu strike earlier this year, what number of work-integrated learning hours are 4th-year B Nursing students required to complete in order to graduate; (2) should the specified students meet the 1 830 hours required by SANC, but not the 3 000 hours, (a) would he ensure that they are assisted to graduate and (b) in what way will the students be assisted to graduate?
Reply:
1. According to the North West University (NWU), the B. Nursing curriculum outlay, the number of work-integrated learning hours as per accreditation document submitted and approved by the South African Nursing Council (SANC). The total required clinical hours over the 4 years, are 3000 hours. This is in line with South African Nursing Council’s Nursing-Education-and-Training-Standards, page 12, Bachelor degree (Regulation R174). The 3000 hours include laboratory hours for Anatomy, Physiology, as well as simulation laboratory hours for all the nursing modules and does not refer to clinical placements in accredited facilities only.
With regards to the NEHAWU strike earlier this year, the NWU nursing students were placed in facilities where there was no strike activities and their clinical hours were therefore not affected.
2. Students are allowed ample opportunities and are supported to catch up on any missed hours before they exit in December (not May) and graduate in March of 2024, according to the yearbook outcomes and academic calendar of the university.
END.