South Australian Consolidated Regulations South Australian Consolidated Regulations19—Staffing levels—nursing homes
(1) The proprietor of
a nursing home where not more than 16 persons who require nursing care
reside must ensure that the following prescribed minimum staffing levels are
maintained at the nursing home:
(a)
subject to paragraph (b), a registered nurse must be on duty and another
nursing staff member must be on close call at all times; and
(b) a
registered nurse need not be on duty on the premises during the night shift
if—
(i)
he or she is on close call; and
(ii)
there is another nursing staff member on duty during that
time;
(c) an
adequate number of nursing staff members and therapists must be employed to
ensure the proper care of the residents; and
(d)
there must be sufficient domestic staff members on duty—
(i)
to maintain the premises in a clean condition; and
(ii)
to prepare, serve and clear away meals; and
(iii)
to maintain adequate laundry and linen services.
(2) The proprietor of
a nursing home where more than 16 persons who require nursing care reside
must ensure that the following prescribed minimum staffing levels are
maintained at the nursing home:
(a) 2
nursing staff members (at least 1 of whom must be a registered nurse) must be
on duty at all times;
(b) an
adequate number of nursing staff members and therapists must be employed to
ensure the proper care of the residents;
(c)
there must be sufficient domestic staff members on duty—
(i)
to maintain the premises in a clean condition; and
(ii)
to prepare, serve and clear away meals; and
(iii)
to maintain adequate laundry and linen services.
(3) In this
regulation—
"domestic staff" means persons involved with housekeeping functions in a
nursing home and includes a cook, cleaner, laundry worker, gardener or
maintenance person;
"general nurse (supervised)" means a person enrolled as a general nurse
(supervised) under the Nurses Act 1999 ;
"nursing home assistant" means a person who is not a registered nurse or a
general nurse (supervised), but whose work is concerned with the personal care
of individual residents at a nursing home;
"nursing staff member" includes a registered nurse, a general nurse
(supervised) or a nursing home assistant;
"therapist" means an occupational therapist, speech therapist,
physiotherapist, podiatrist, recreational therapist or other person whose
profession or occupation involves assisting in the rehabilitation of patients.
(4) For the purposes
of this regulation, a person is "on close call at a nursing home if—
(a) the
person is on the premises of the nursing home and can be summoned to attend
immediately by a nursing staff member on duty; or
(b) the
person is on premises within close proximity to the nursing home and has a
means by which he or she can be summoned to attend immediately by a
nursing staff member on duty.