Students registered for the new Bachelor of Nursing programme must complete 3000 hours of practical “work”. Without the practical component, a student will not be able to graduate as a general nurse and midwife or be eligible for registration with the South African Nursing Council (SANC). Practical placements start in the first year, after orientation and simulation training. During the training, students are taught the necessary skills expected of a first-year student nurse.

Throughout the four-year training period, students are placed at various health-care facilities, such as hospitals and clinics, and they are also exposed to various disciplines; examples of these disciplines are surgical nursing, medical nursing and emergency nursing. Patients need 24-hour care, and therefore students do both day and night duty. Shifts are mostly from 07:00-16:00 or 07:00-19:00.

Nursing students are required to apply what they have learnt during their theoretical lectures and practical training when actively caring for patients in the health-care facilities where they are placed. Students will also be assessed and examined on a regular basis in health-care facilities and in simulations to ensure that they become competent professional nurses.