An auxiliary nurse, registered as a nursing auxiliary with the South African Nursing Council, provides basic nursing care under the supervision of a professional nurse. It is the entry category of the nursing profession and the closest role to the patient’s daily experience of care.
This guide sets out auxiliary nurse duties and responsibilities and how they differ by setting. It sits in the Healthcare and care duties and responsibilities cluster, part of the wider job duties guide. It is general career information, not clinical guidance.
What Does an Auxiliary Nurse Do?
An auxiliary nurse carries out elementary nursing care: assisting patients with hygiene, mobility, feeding and toileting, taking basic observations, and preparing and maintaining the ward environment. All of this happens under the direction and supervision of a registered nurse.
The scope is deliberately bounded. An auxiliary nurse does not assess patients independently, plan care or make clinical decisions, and working outside the registered scope is a professional risk to the nurse as well as to the patient. Knowing exactly where your scope ends, and reporting rather than acting when something falls outside it, is itself a duty of the role.
Because auxiliary nurses spend the most time at the bedside, they are usually the first to notice that a patient has changed, which makes accurate observation and prompt reporting the most clinically valuable part of the job.
Key Auxiliary Nurse Duties and Responsibilities
- Assisting patients with bathing, dressing, grooming and oral hygiene.
- Helping patients with mobility, positioning, turning and transfers.
- Assisting with feeding and recording food and fluid intake.
- Assisting with toileting, bedpans, catheter bags and continence care.
- Taking and recording basic observations as directed and within scope.
- Reporting changes in a patient’s condition to the professional nurse immediately.
- Making beds, preparing units and maintaining a clean, safe patient environment.
- Preparing patients and equipment for procedures and rounds.
- Following infection prevention and control practice at all times.
- Escorting and transporting patients within the facility.
- Recording care given in the patient’s records as required.
- Working strictly within the registered scope of practice for the category.
Daily Tasks of an Auxiliary Nurse
- Handover: receive report and the allocation of patients for the shift.
- Early: assist with washing, dressing, mobilising and breakfast; take observations.
- Mid-shift: bed making, turning and positioning, escorting patients and preparing for rounds.
- Ongoing: respond to call bells, assist with toileting and report any changes noticed.
- End of shift: complete records, restock the unit and hand over patient information.
Auxiliary Nurse Skills and Competencies
- Observation: noticing a change in a patient and reporting it without delay.
- Scope awareness: knowing what you may do and refusing what you may not.
- Compassion: preserving dignity during personal care.
- Safe handling: correct technique for lifting, turning and transferring patients.
- Infection control: hand hygiene and protective equipment used consistently.
- Physical and emotional stamina: demanding shifts and difficult situations.
Auxiliary Nurse Duties by Workplace or Industry
Hospital Wards
Duties focus on personal care, observations, mobility assistance and supporting the nursing team through the shift routine.
Old Age Homes and Frail Care
Long-term relationships with residents, continence and dementia care, mealtime assistance and maintaining routine and dignity take priority.
Clinics and Day Facilities
Duties include preparing consulting rooms, weighing and measuring patients, managing queues and assisting the professional nurse during procedures.
Home-Based and Private Care
Working alone in a patient’s home, the auxiliary nurse provides personal care and observation with less immediate supervision, which makes clear reporting lines essential.
Auxiliary Nurse Duties for a CV
State your SANC registration and the settings you have worked in. Use the duties for a CV guide for the method.
- Registered nursing auxiliary (SANC) with four years in a 28-bed medical ward.
- Provided personal care and mobility assistance to allocated patients each shift.
- Recorded observations and intake charts and reported changes to the professional nurse.
- Maintained infection control standards with no unit-attributed incidents.
Related Job Roles and Responsibilities
These guides cover the roles and next steps most closely related to this one.
- Enrolled Nurse duties and responsibilities
- Professional Nurse duties and responsibilities
- Caregiver duties and responsibilities
- Community Health Worker duties and responsibilities
- Healthcare and care duties
Frequently Asked Questions About Auxiliary Nurse Duties
What are the duties of an auxiliary nurse?
Assisting patients with hygiene, dressing and grooming, helping with mobility and transfers, assisting with feeding and recording intake, continence care, taking basic observations as directed, reporting changes in condition, making beds and maintaining the patient environment, preparing for procedures and following infection control practice.
What is the difference between an auxiliary nurse and a caregiver?
An auxiliary nurse is registered with the South African Nursing Council and works within a defined nursing scope. A caregiver is generally not a registered nursing practitioner and provides support and personal care without that registration or scope.
Can an auxiliary nurse give injections?
Administration of medicines falls outside the elementary nursing scope of the auxiliary category. Confirm the current scope of practice for your registration category directly with the South African Nursing Council and your employer’s policy.
How do you become an auxiliary nurse in South Africa?
Through an accredited nursing programme leading to registration as a nursing auxiliary with SANC. Programme names and entry requirements have changed with nursing education reform, so confirm the current route with SANC or an accredited institution.
This page is general career information and is not clinical advice. Scope of practice is governed by the Nursing Act and South African Nursing Council regulations, which take precedence over this guide.
Last reviewed: 2 September 2026