Tanzania
Nurses and Midwives Registration Act
Chapter 325
- Published in Tanzania Government Gazette
- Commenced on 1 June 1998
- [This is the version of this document at 31 July 2002.]
- [Note: This legislation has been thoroughly revised and consolidated under the supervision of the Attorney General's Office, in compliance with the Laws Revision Act No. 7 of 1994, the Revised Laws and Annual Revision Act (Chapter 356 (R.L.)), and the Interpretation of Laws and General Clauses Act No. 30 of 1972. This version is up-to-date as at 31st July 2002.]
Part I – Preliminary provisions (ss 1-2)
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Nurses and Midwives Registration Act.2. Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—"approved nursing institution" means an institution or part of an institution approved by the Council under the provisions of this Act, providing a course of training leading to acquisition of a qualifying award;"Board" means a Board constituted in accordance with section 12 of this Act;"Committee" means a committee established by the Council under section 5 of this Act;"Council" means the Nurses and Midwives Council established under section 3 of this Act;"enrolled nurse or midwife" means a nurse or midwife whose names appears in the roll kept by the Council under this Act;"internship" means a prescribed period during which a nurse or a midwife is under test of professional competency of nursing pending full registration;"licence" means a licence to practise as a nurse or midwife in accordance with qualifications obtained;"midwife" means a person who has completed an approved midwifery programme duly recognised in the Tanzania or in any other country in which it is located has successfully completed the prescribed course of studies in midwifery and has acquired the qualification requisite for registration or is licensed to practise midwifery;"midwifery" means giving care and supervision to a woman during pregnancy, labour and postpartum period and caring for the new born babies and infants;"Minister" means the Minister for the time being responsible for health affairs;"nurse" means a person who has completed an approved nursing course programme recognised for the time by the Council, registered and legally authorised to render services designed to promote health and prevent diseases, alleviate the suffering and rehabilitate the needy under this Act;"nurse specialist" means the nurse specialist trained beyond the level of a nurse and authorised to practise as a specialist with expertise in a branch of the nursing field which includes clinical, teaching, administration, research and consultant roles;"nursing" means assisting individuals or groups to maintain optimal health throughout the life process by assessing their health status. Establishing nursing diagnosis, planning and implementing a strategy of care to accomplish defined goals and evaluating responses to care and treatment;"private nursing homes" or "private maternity homes" means homes established by registered nurse/midwife to provide restorative, rehabilitative, curative and recuperative nursing care to an individual, a family or the community, by virtue of section 16 of this Act;"private practice" in relation to a nurse or midwife means to practice as a nurse or midwife other than as an employee of the Government;"qualifying award" means a professional or academic qualification by whatever name called, obtained from a school. College, University or other institution recognised by the Council which is a sufficient guarantee that the holder has an academic knowledge to practise in nursing or midwifery;"register" means the register of nurses and midwives kept by the Council under this Act;"registered" means registered under section 7 of this Act, and the expressions;"Registrar" means a Registrar to the Council appointed under section 4 of this Act;"roll" means an official document for enlisting names of nurses or midwives kept by the Council in accordance with the provisions of this Act;"supervisory authority" means a person appointed by the Council under paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section 5 of this Act to be a supervisory authority over any registered nurses or registered midwives, wherever practising.Part II – The Nurses and Midwives Council (ss 3-5)
3. Establishment and composition of the Council
4. Registrar
5. Functions of the Council
Part III – Administration and registration (ss 6-16)
6. Register of nurses and midwives
7 Registration and enrolment
8. Temporary registration
9. Provisional registration
10. Forms of licences
Licences of all kinds shall be in a prescribed form and shall be subject to renewal as may be prescribed by the Council from time to time. These include the full registration licence, temporary registration licence, provisional registration licence and licence of enrolment.11. Application for retention of name in the register
12. Appeal against suspension from practice or removal from the register
13. Surrender of certificate on removal of name from the register
Any person whose name has been ordered to be removed from the register or roll under the provisions of paragraph (1) of section 5 of this Act shall within three calendar months of notification of such order, whichever is the later, surrender to the Council any certificate issued to him by the Council, and on failure to do so without reasonable course he shall commit an offence against this Act and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not less than one hundred thousand shillings and the Court before which he is convicted shall order that the licence be cancelled.14. Registration not to confer rights of qualified medical practitioner
Registration under this Act shall not confer upon any person any right to be licensed or registered under the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act 2or any Act replacing or amending the same, or to assume any name, title or designation implying that she is by law authorised to practise medicine or surgery, or to grant any medical certificate or any certificate of death or stillbirth, or undertake the charge of cases of abnormality or disease in connection with parturition:Provided that nothing in this section which relates to undertaking the charge of cases of abnormality or disease in connection with parturition shall be construed as prohibiting any person from rendering assistance in an emergency when the services of a duly qualified medical practitioner are not available, and the Minister may from time to time make regulations prescribing other procedures which a nurse or midwife may perform.15. Duties of supervisory authority
It shall be the duty of every supervisory authority in respect of any registered or enrolled nurse or midwife under her supervision—16. Notice of intention to practice and change of address
Part IV – General provisions (ss 17-23)
17. Penalty for illegal practice
18. Penalty for illegally procuring registration through false statement or document
Any person who—19. Penalty for commencing new school of nursing and maternity homes without Council's approval
Any person or institution(s) commencing such new school without the approval of the Council shall commit an offence and upon conviction shall be liable to a fine of not less than one million shillings or imprisonment not exceeding five years or to both such fine and imprisonment.20. Notification
Any notification required to be given by Council to any person shall be sufficiently given if sent by registered post to that person at her last known address or her last address as contained in the register, and the time of receipt shall be deemed unless the contrary is shown, to be the time at which such notification would have arrived in the ordinary course of post to such address.21. Regulations
The Minister after obtaining the advice of the Council, may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, for all or any of the following purposes—22. Repeal of R.L. Cap. 325
[Repeals the Nurses and Midwives Ordinance.]23. Savings
History of this document
31 July 2002 this version
Consolidation
01 June 1998
Commenced
Documents citing this one 1
Legislation 1
1. | Transfer of Powers and Duties (The Chief Medical Officer, Ministry of Health) Notice, 1973 |