Sufficient nursing staff must be on duty
35 Sufficient nursing staff must be on duty
The proprietor of a health service establishment must ensure that whenever patients are receiving health services from the health service establishment, a sufficient number of nursing staff are on duty to provide care for those patients.
Penalty: 50 penalty units.
For the purposes of subregulation (1), a sufficient number of nursing staff is—
in the case of a private hospital—
at least one registered nurse for every 10 patients or fraction of that number during day and evening shifts; and
at least one registered nurse for every 15 patients or fraction of that number during night shifts; or
in the case of a day procedure centre, at least one registered nurse for every 10 patients or fraction of that number.
Despite subregulation (2), in determining the number of nurses on duty, if 3 or more nurses are on duty at a health service establishment during a shift, up to one-third may be enrolled nurses.
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