Nursing care at NeoHealth
Veronica Terblanche
Primary Healthcare Professional Nurse and Clinical Nurse Practitioner. Veronica qualified at Stellenbosch University in 2010 and has spent more than fifteen years in practice since. She works alongside Dr Ethan Chellan and Dr Claudia Lakay, under their clinical direction.
SANC-registered General Nurse and Midwife, with additional registration in Clinical Nursing Science, Health Assessment, Treatment and Care.
What a Clinical Nurse Practitioner actually is
The title is not decoration. A Clinical Nurse Practitioner holds a postgraduate qualification in health assessment, treatment and care, which is what allows a nurse to assess a patient and treat within scope rather than only carry out instructions. It is the qualification that underpins nurse-run primary care clinics across South Africa.
For you, the practical effect is that a good deal of a visit does not have to wait for a consulting room to free up. Vitals, a dressing change, an injection, a child's growth check or a point-of-care screen are done properly by someone whose training is specifically in assessing patients, while a doctor remains in the building for the parts that need one.
Veronica is also a registered Midwife, which matters for antenatal and postnatal visits, and is trained in Integrated Management of Childhood Illness, the structured approach used across South African primary care for assessing a sick child.
Qualifications and registration
Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing (Primary Health Care)
Stellenbosch University, 2010. The postgraduate qualification that underpins independent primary care nursing practice in South Africa.
Diploma in Clinical Nursing Science: Health Assessment, Treatment and Care
Stellenbosch University, 2010. This is the qualification that allows a nurse to assess, diagnose within scope, and treat, rather than only to carry out instructions.
SANC registration: General Nurse and Midwife
Registered with the South African Nursing Council as a General Nurse and Midwife, with additional registration in Clinical Nursing Science, Health Assessment, Treatment and Care. SANC number 12843280, annual practising certificate current.
Dispensing licence
Holds a dispensing licence issued under the Medicines and Related Substances Act. Dispensing at NeoHealth is currently done by the doctors under their own Section 22C(1)(a) licences.
Continuing professional development on file
Nursing registration in South Africa requires ongoing professional development. Veronica's current record includes:
- Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI)
- HIV, AIDS, paediatric HIV and PEP management
- TB infection control
- Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers (BLS-HCP)
- STRETCH
- Dispensing practitioner's course
- Pathology
- Health and safety representative
- Yale and FPD advanced health management
What Veronica does at NeoHealth
Working alongside the doctors, under their clinical direction, as part of your consultation:
- Vitals, history taking and preparing you for the doctor
- Flu and tetanus vaccinations, and Hepatitis B for the registered indications
- Baby and child growth, weight, feeding and developmental checks
- Wound dressings, dressing changes and ear care
- On-site screening: blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol, urine and peak flow
- Injections, including vitamin B12 and contraceptive injections
- Assisting with minor procedures, including suturing and biopsies
- IV infusion therapy administration, with a doctor on site throughout
- ECGs and point-of-care testing
- Patient education and emergency stabilisation
Nursing care forms part of your consultation with the doctor, so there is no separate nursing charge.
More about nursing care at NeoHealth