When Arwyp Medical Centre opened its doors in May 1986, all expectations were exceeded as it soon grew into one of the biggest medical centres in the country. Due to this rapid growth as well as to the need to satisfy market expectations and to differentiate the hospital’s services from those of its competitors, it became obvious that there was a need for specialised in-house training.

The training of nurses at Arwyp began in 1996 beginning with a two year bridging programme presented in cooperation with the Ann Latsky Nursing College. As the need for adequately trained nurses became more apparent, accreditation as a nursing school was applied for and obtained. The first auxiliary nursing course commenced in January 1999. The Arwyp Training Institute was formally launched in September 2001. By December 2001, the institute had trained 24 auxiliary nurses, 5 enrolled nurses and 18 registered nurses and was well on its way to becoming the accomplished and well-recognised training facility it is today.

The growth of the training institute meant that space on the 12th floor of the main building was becoming limited and the move to new premises was made in January 2005. When the Kempen Building in Pine Street, located next to the Arwyp East Parking was renovated, the 3rd floor of what then became known as the Arwyp Medical Suites buliding became the new premises for the ATI providing ample space for the facilitators and students.  In September 2010 brand new premises became available in the buliding in Central Rd where the institute is now located.
 
The latest figures of how many learners have been trained per category to date by ATI are as follows:

• 77 Professional (Registered) Nurses since 1996:
  14 In cooperation with the Ann Latsky Nursing College
  14 In cooperation with the Netcare Training Academy
  49 through the Arwyp Training Institute 
   
• 311 Enrolled Nurses since 1998:         
  3 In cooperation with the Ann Latsky Nursing College
  4 In cooperation with the Netcare Training Academy
  304 through the Arwyp Training Institute 
   
• 352 Auxiliary Nurses since 2000:                     
  Through the Arwyp Training Institute 
   
• 378 Care Workers since 2002:           
  Through the Arwyp Training Institute     
  Total trained: 1118
  

Our results speak for themselves:

January 2012

The 6 PAN learners (4 Learners’ course period was extended and 2 re-wrote the exam ), who sat their final exams in Nov 2011 have all passed.  One learner passed with honours! Thanks to all who contributed to their success!

October 2011
We have just received the SANC exam results for the Auxiliary learners that wrote their exams on 29 July 2011.  Of the 51 learners that sat the exam, 49 passed (pass rate of 96%).  Two learners will re-write in November 2011. The group obtained 14 clinical and 8 theoretical distinctions and 6 learners passed with honours!

July 2011

19 first year Bridging learners sat the SANC exams in March 2011. 16 of them passed the exams. The 3 candidates who didn’t pass will be entered to write the re-exam in June 2011 and will continue their second year of training at present. Consideration should be taken into account of the fact that the results throughout the country were considerably lower than last year, with a pass rate of only 74%, a distinction rate of 2% and a failure rate of 26% compared to 2010 results of 91.5%, 8% and 9.5%.

February 2011

The second Pupil Care worker group of 2010 completed their course at the end of February 2011. They boast 100% pass rate, with 4 of the 25 achieving distinctions! The two PAN 09:01 learners who re-wrote their exam in November 2010 both passed their exams!!!  They have proven in doing so that they have perseverance and the desire to succeed. 

December 2010

Please join all of us at ATI in congratulating Johanna Moyane & Masabata Hlatswayo on their success in the South African Nursing Council examinations and welcoming them to the ranks of registered nurses at Arwyp! Their exams were postponed twice, the first time due to the paper being leaked, and the second time due to the strike by teachers!  Yet they persisted and eventually achieved their objective! Well done to them both.

October 2010
The group of 17 care worker learners who sat their final exams at the end of August 2010 obtained 100% pass rate. The group of 57 auxiliary learners who sat their final exams on 30 July 2010 boasted a 96.5% pass rate and achieved the following results: 32 distinctions in total, 18 in clinical nursing science and 14 in theoretical nursing science, with 13 learners passing with honours. Well done Arwyp learners.

August 2010
The seven enrolled learners that re-wrote their final SANC exam at the end of May 2010 and the one that wrote for the first time due to the fact that her course was extended because of maternity leave, all passed the exam, with one learner obtaining a distinction!  These learners all tackled their initial disappointment with vigour and determination, and now have been rewarded with positive results.  Thank you all who have been supporting them, and join me in welcoming them as EN’s to the family of nursing!

June 2010
The latest results received for the bridging learners who wrote their first year exams in February 2010 have also been received – the group performed very well.  Furthermore the group obtained a 100% pass rate! Our own Zasskia Roode obtained the highest mark in the country  - (91%)!!!   (see insert)

Also, in the Enrolled group of learners whose results we previously communicated to you, ATI produced the second best individual learner result in the country!  She is Ntombizodwa Sylvia Mahlangu, a learner employed by and sponsored for her year’s training at ATI and Arwyp for the year by Louis Pasteur hospital in Pretoria.  She obtained 96%.  The best performer in the country obtained 96.5%!

June 2009
The 2nd year bridging students’ results have been received.  I am very happy to inform you that 12 of the 14 students passed both the theoretical exam papers that were sat on 25 & 27 March 2009 respectively and that the other 2 each passed 1 of the 2 exam papers.  These 2 both qualify to re-write the paper.  Furthermore the group obtained 6 distinctions amongst them!

Thank you so much to all that were involved in the facilitation and professional growth of these individuals – their success is also your success! Please join us in celebrating these students’ great achievements and in welcoming them to the ranks of registered nurses!

• Herewith the results of the final examination of the Pupil Care Worker 08:03 Group: There were 33 learners who sat the examination.  The group achieved 100% pass with 7 distinctions!
• Herewith the results of the final SANC examination of the Pupil Enrolled Nurse 08:01 Group: There were 54 learners who sat the examination.  The group achieved 94.4% pass – 3 learners will re-write the exam.  The group achieved 21 distinctions amongst them!

‘We have just received the results of the group of 2nd year pupil enrolled nurses who wrote their final examination in January 2006.  34 candidates sat the examination and achieved a pass mark of 85.29% with those who did not pass qualifying for a re-write in May 2006. 11 learners obtained  a distinction each and 4 learners passed their examinations with honours (an average of at least 75% in both the clinical and theoretical examinations). The group’s average mark was 63.85%. We are very proud of the performance of these learners and of the fact that we have 29 new staff nurses in circulation with immediate effect. ’

The Arwyp Training Institute (ATI) took pleasure in introducing 12 new staff nurses to the profession in November this year and wishes them every success for the future. Final SA Nursing Council (SANC) exams were written by the Pupil Enrolled Nurses in September 2005. There were 14 learners who wrote the exam with a pass rate of 85.7 The group’s average mark was 67%.  Four learners passed their course with honours

“We have received the results of the final SANC exam of the auxiliary nurses who wrote in July 2005. The group’s pass rate is 87%, and their average mark for the clinical and theoretical exams is 66.21%.  We have 4 learners who passed with honours!  We are very proud of those learners who passed and who excelled!  Thank you and also congratulations to all involved – the effort is a joint one, and the rewards are therefore shared!  Well done!”

• Auxiliary group of 17 learners: 16 passed both clinical and theoretical exams, 1 learner unfortunately failed the theoretical exam with 45.5% and qualifies for a re-write in March this year.  In this group there are 9 distinctions and 4 learners passed with honours.
• 1st year enrolled group of 15 learners: 100% pass!!  In this group there were 15 distinctions of which 10 learners passed with honours.  Highest mark: 92%.
• Also, the Care Worker group who are completing at the end of January 2005 achieved the following results in their final written exam:
• 13 learners wrote the exam, 11 passed, 2 with distinction!  The two who didn’t pass, both qualify for a re-write.
  This has been our largest combined group ever (32 learners).
  Combined statistics:       31 of 32 passed = pass rate of 96.88%.
  14 of 32 obtained honours (average of 75% or more for both the clinical and theoretical components) = honours rate of 43.75%.