PROFESSIONAL NURSE: SPECIALTY [PN-B1] GRADE 1–2 SESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS: MAXIMUM OF 20 SESSIONS PER WEEK PER PN (1 SESSION = 1 HOUR)

The Limpopo Department of Health is establishing a sessional database for professional nurse appointments across its network of district hospitals, offering hourly paid sessions for nurses in a wide range of clinical specialties as well as in midwifery. These are sessional posts, meaning that successful candidates may be engaged for up to twenty one-hour sessions per week, with an expectation of flexibility to meet service demands, including shift work, flexi-hours, weekends, public holidays and overtime. The specialty stream, graded as Professional Nurse Specialty PN-B1 Grade 1 or Grade 2, covers operational theatre, critical care adult ICU, child nursing and paediatric care, child critical care ICU, trauma nursing, advanced midwifery and neonatal nursing science, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, and renal nursing. The hospitals participating in this stream are located in Capricorn District at Pietersburg and Mankweng hospitals, Mopani District at Letaba Hospital, Sekhukhune District at St Ritas and Philadelphia hospitals, Vhembe District at Tshilidzini Hospital, and Waterberg District at Mokopane Hospital.

To qualify for the specialty posts, candidates must hold the basic R425 diploma or degree in nursing, or an equivalent qualification that allows registration with the South African Nursing Council as a professional nurse. They must also have a post-basic nursing qualification of at least one year in one of the listed specialty areas, accredited by the SANC, and be currently registered with the SANC in that specialty. For Grade 1, a minimum of four years of appropriate and recognisable nursing experience after registration in general nursing is required. Grade 2 requires a minimum of fourteen years of such experience, of which ten years must be in the relevant specialty after obtaining the post-basic qualification. Those interested in neonatal ICU nursing should note that the training requirements for that specialty differ from the standard one-year post-basic qualification requirement.

Alongside the specialty roles, the department is also recruiting professional nurses with midwifery on a separate grade structure, ranging from Grade 1 to Grade 3. This midwifery stream is offered at a considerably larger number of hospitals across Vhembe, Waterberg, Capricorn and Mopani districts, including facilities such as Elim, Siloam, Donald Frazer, Malamulele, Messina, Louis Trichardt, Tshilidzini, Hayani, Ellisras, Witpoort, Warmbaths, FH Odendaal, George Masebe, Thabazimbi, Voortrekker, Mokopane, Helene Franz, Seshego, WF Knobel, Botlokwa, Lebowakgomo, Zebediela, Thabamoopo, Nkhensani, Dr CN Phatudi, Maphutha L Malatjie, Kgapane, Sekororo, Van Velden, Letaba and Evuxakeni. For this stream, candidates are expected to hold the appropriate professional nurse and midwifery qualifications registered with the South African Nursing Council, with grading based on the level of applicable experience.

The core responsibilities for all these sessional professional nurse appointments are centred on delivering safe, high-quality and legally compliant nursing care. Incumbents will provide direction and supervision for the implementation of nursing care plans, ensure that practice aligns with professional standards, quality indicators, and the relevant legislation and regulations, and work collaboratively within multidisciplinary clinical teams. They will also be expected to utilise human, material and physical resources efficiently and effectively. The knowledge and skills required include a strong command of nursing care processes and procedures in the relevant specialty, good communication and report-writing abilities, facilitation and liaison skills, networking and problem-solving competence, information management skills, and computer literacy.

As this is a database appointment system, being placed on the sessional professional nurse database is the first step toward being called upon for sessions as hospital needs arise. Appointments will be made on a sessional basis, with remuneration determined in line with the Department of Public Service and Administration’s approved sessional rates, based on the candidate’s recognised experience after SANC registration. Interested applicants must apply through the hospital-specific application links for the relevant district and specialty, ensuring that their submission matches the particular discipline and institution for which they are qualified. These sessional roles offer a flexible way for experienced professional nurses to contribute to public healthcare across Limpopo’s hospitals while earning hourly-based compensation.