[3] It is an affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions and became a full member of the International Council of Nurses on 15 June 1997.

The union suspended its participation in the leadership structures of the congress on 10 November 2014 as a result of the federations expulsion of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa on 7 November 2014.

[4] At its 2010 congress, the organisation passed a resolution that the National Executive Committee should proceed with the merger with the South African Democratic Nurses' Union.

[3] It has set up numerous projects with the aim of improving healthcare in South Africa.

These mainly consist of workshops to educate nurses on HIV/AIDS and multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis[5]