Foundation for Professional Development
Nursing Management in the South African Healthcare System
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Short course
Course type
30 hrs
Study time
Online
Mode of learning
Course overview
Strong nurse managers are essential to safe, effective and responsive healthcare services. They must balance patient care, staff wellbeing, operational demands, quality improvement and organisational accountability while making sound decisions in complex and often challenging environments. This course has been designed to strengthen the knowledge, skills and professional judgement required to lead successfully within the South African healthcare system.
Throughout the programme, you will explore the full scope of nursing management, including leadership and accountability, legal and ethical decision-making, communication and stakeholder engagement, workforce management, financial stewardship, healthcare operations, quality improvement, patient safety, performance intelligence and organisational change. Using realistic workplace scenarios, practical activities and Best Possible Answer decision-making exercises, you will learn how to apply management principles to everyday healthcare challenges.
The course requires approximately 30 hours and 36 minutes to complete and is suitable for current or aspiring nurse managers who want to strengthen their management and leadership capabilities. Learning is assessed through quizzes and practical decision-making activities, culminating in a comprehensive final summative assessment. A minimum mark of 70% is required to demonstrate competence and successfully complete the course.
Please note: The course has been developed to support Continuing Professional Development (CPD); however, FPD is not yet registered as a CPD provider with the South African Nursing Council (SANC) under the new SANC CPD accreditation requirements.
Who is this course for?
South African Nurses
Required qualification
Registration as a Professional Nurse with the South African Nursing Council (SANC) or an equivalent NQF Level 5 nursing qualification.
Course level
Intermediate
Develop your professional skills
At the end of this course you will be able to:
1. Apply the core responsibilities, authority and professional accountability of a nurse manager within the South African healthcare system.
2. Make professionally defensible nursing-management decisions by applying legal, ethical and policy frameworks.
3. Lead and support healthcare teams by adapting leadership approaches, applying emotional intelligence and strengthening staff engagement.
4. Use structured communication and collaboration approaches to manage difficult interactions, escalate concerns and support service recovery.
5. Make fair, evidence-informed people-management decisions that support staff wellbeing, workforce stability and safe patient care.
6. Make evidence-informed financial decisions that balance responsible resource use, workforce wellbeing and safe patient care.
7. Coordinate patients, staff and resources to maintain safe and efficient healthcare operations.
8. Lead evidence-informed responses that protect patients, strengthen accountability and improve healthcare quality.
9. Use healthcare performance information to identify risks, prioritise action and make evidence-informed management decisions.
10. Lead and sustain healthcare change by assessing readiness, supporting people and adapting implementation to the evidence.
11. Apply integrated nursing-management knowledge and professional judgement to make safe, accountable and evidence-informed workplace decisions
2. Make professionally defensible nursing-management decisions by applying legal, ethical and policy frameworks.
3. Lead and support healthcare teams by adapting leadership approaches, applying emotional intelligence and strengthening staff engagement.
4. Use structured communication and collaboration approaches to manage difficult interactions, escalate concerns and support service recovery.
5. Make fair, evidence-informed people-management decisions that support staff wellbeing, workforce stability and safe patient care.
6. Make evidence-informed financial decisions that balance responsible resource use, workforce wellbeing and safe patient care.
7. Coordinate patients, staff and resources to maintain safe and efficient healthcare operations.
8. Lead evidence-informed responses that protect patients, strengthen accountability and improve healthcare quality.
9. Use healthcare performance information to identify risks, prioritise action and make evidence-informed management decisions.
10. Lead and sustain healthcare change by assessing readiness, supporting people and adapting implementation to the evidence.
11. Apply integrated nursing-management knowledge and professional judgement to make safe, accountable and evidence-informed workplace decisions
About the academic institution
Foundation for Professional Development (FPD) is a South African Private Institution of Higher Education established in October 1997 by the South African Medical Association and has been registered with the DHET since 2002.
600 000+
Students
29
Years
110
countries
FPD contact info
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Course Lessons
Subject Matter Experts & Module Authors
Prof Annali Botha
B Cur; M Cur (Advanced Clinical Nursing); D Cur
Prof Annali Botha is a retired professor and professional nurse with more than 45 years of experience in clinical practice and healthcare education. She holds Bachelor's, Master's and Doctoral degrees from the University of Pretoria and has worked at Steve Biko Hospital, the University of Pretoria and UNISA. Her expertise includes critical care nursing, community health, public health, nursing education and clinical leadership. She continues to contribute to programme design, research and nursing education.
Mrs Priscilla Botha
Registered Nurse; Qualifications in Nursing Management, Nursing Education, Critical Care Nursing, Research Methodology and Project Management; MBA
Priscilla Botha is Nursing Manager at Zuid-Afrikaans Hospital and an executive healthcare leader with over 30 years’ experience in public and private healthcare. Her expertise includes nursing leadership, clinical governance, patient safety, quality improvement, hospital operations and healthcare strategy. She is committed to developing high-performing teams and equipping healthcare professionals with practical, evidence-based insights that can be applied directly in the workplace.
Mrs Maureen Fourie
BA Hons (Industrial and Organisational Psychology); Chartered HR Professional (SABPP)
Maureen Fourie is a Chartered HR Professional with more than 30 years of experience in human resources management. Her expertise includes strategic HR management, workforce planning, talent management, employee relations, labour relations, performance management, learning and development, and HR policy development. She has worked across diverse organisational environments and is passionate about building fair, supportive and high-performing workplaces that align people practices with organisational goals.
Sister Heidi Henning
General Nursing; Psychiatric Nursing; Community Nursing; Midwifery; Operating Room Nursing Science
Sr Heidi Henning is a registered professional nurse and Nurse Manager with more than 30 years of experience in clinical practice, nursing leadership and healthcare quality. Her expertise includes operating theatre nursing, clinical governance, patient safety, quality improvement, risk management, infection prevention and control, clinical auditing and staff development. She is passionate about strengthening nursing practice through effective leadership, continuous learning and a strong commitment to patient-centred care.
Prof Sarie Human
B Cur; B Cur Hons; M Cur (cum laude); D Cur; Registered Nurse; Midwife; Psychiatric Nurse; Community Nurse; Nurse Educator; Nursing Manager
Sarie Human is an emeritus professor with more than 50 years of nursing experience across clinical practice, education and research. Her expertise includes community health, nursing education, ethics and professional practice. She served on the South African Nursing Council’s Professional Practice and Education Committees and co-authored Professional Practice: A Southern African Nursing Perspective. She contributed to the ethics module for this Nursing Management course.
Mrs Annatjie Peters
B Cur; BA Cur; Certificate in Nursing Administration; MSc (Community Health Nursing); Diploma in Clinical Nursing: Diagnosis, Treatment and Care; Certificate in Health and Social Welfare Management
Mrs Annatjie Peters is a professional nurse, academic leader and public health specialist with almost 50 years of experience in nursing, health programme management, education and policy development. She has held senior leadership positions in the Department of Health, CDC South Africa, WHO, JPS Africa and the Foundation for Professional Development. Her expertise includes nursing education, TB/HIV programmes, public health, health systems strengthening, curriculum development and clinical leadership.
Prof Sharon Vasuthevan
PhD Nursing; MSc Health Sciences; B Cur Hons; B Cur; Diploma in Professional Coaching; Diploma in Nursing Administration; Diploma in Psychiatric Nursing; Diploma in Midwifery; Diploma in Nursing
Prof Sharon Vasuthevan is an Adjunct Professor, healthcare consultant and nursing leader with more than 40 years of experience in nursing practice, nursing education, healthcare quality and executive leadership. She holds a PhD in Nursing and previously served as Group Nursing Education and Quality Executive at Life Healthcare. Her expertise includes nursing leadership, quality improvement, clinical governance, nursing education, healthcare management, research supervision and professional coaching.
Mrs Alet Bosman
BCom (Financial Management); HED; BCom Hons (Accounting); Advanced Certificate in Health Management; MPH
Mrs Alet Bosman is an experienced academic consultant, curriculum developer and public health specialist with more than 20 years of experience in health-sector management, evaluation and education. She holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Pretoria and has extensive expertise in monitoring and evaluation, financial management, compliance, facilitation, assessment and moderation. She has contributed to course development, quality assurance and academic programme coordination across a range of higher education and health-sector initiatives.
Course developer & Educational Designer
Elmien van Amerom, PhD (Informatics), is an educationalist, curriculum designer and assessment specialist with more than 34 years of experience in higher education. She led the design, development and quality assurance of the Nursing Management in the South African Health System programme. Responsibilities included defining the course architecture, developing the learning outcomes, designing the assessment strategy, guiding the scenario-based learning approach, overseeing quality and instructional-design decisions, ensuring alignment with South African nursing-management practice requirements, and leading the development of formative and summative assessments. Her role also included curriculum oversight, learner-workload management, quality review and final academic approval of all course content.
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The Instructional Design Team
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