More than 1 000 nurses appear at disciplinary hearings every year to face minor charges - usually committed as a result of understaffing, working long hours and general fatigue.
The Democratic Nurses Union of South Africa (Denosa) said nurses in the public service were increasingly at risk of being hauled before tribunals to explain why petty mistakes had been made while they were on duty.
An estimated 1 200 nurses appear annually before the South African Nursing Council's (Sanc) Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) - the majority of which, Denosa says, are for minor charges of negligence.
Denosa spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said many Sanc disciplinary inquiries could be attributed to staff shortages in State hospitals.
"We have noticed a trend where nurses are facing disciplinary action that, even where they are at fault, the cause of the offence is directly related to staff shortages," he said.
A 2004 study by the Public Service Commission found that of 1 275 available nursing posts at Pretoria Academic Hospital, more than 50 percent were vacant.
The PCC convenes 12 times a year in Pretoria and deals with up to 100 cases during each session.
Depending on the merits of each case, it can either suspend a nurse, remove a nurse from the register or impose a fine to a maximum of R2 000 for each charge.
Refilwe Ntuli, a Pretoria Academic Hospital nurse, was last year found guilty of failing to "assess the serious condition of a patient" and failing "to keep clear and accurate records".
The PCC fined her R4 000 and she had to go into debt to pay the fine, said Ntuli.
"I admit I was guilty, but we are under so much pressure... we have one nurse to about 30 patients. We cannot attend to all of them at once," she said.
The International Council for Nurses (ICN) pegs the optimal nurse-patient ratio in a given unit to be one nurse to four patients.
A ratio of one nurse to eight patients, the ICN says, increases patient mortality by 31 percent.
Frayne Furniss-Mathijse, Denosa vice-chairperson, said it was not unusual for nurses in State hospitals to experience high patient workloads.
"Our nurse-patient ratios are well outside accepted international norms," she said.
Sanc lawyer Gabriel Mapotse agreed that disciplinary action against nurses was on the increase and concurred with Denosa, saying staff shortages at State hospitals was a contributing factor.
National health department spokesperson Charity Bhengu said the department could not comment until it "possessed all the facts".
"We cannot comment on the issue until the department has clarity on the situation regarding staff shortages resulting in increased disciplinary action against nurses," she said.
Mavis Moeletsi was suspended for a year after being found guilty of administering incorrect medicine to a patient at George Mukhari Hospital. The incident occurred after Moeletsi had worked a 16-hour shift, she said.
"We were terribly understaffed ... nurses were working up to nine hours overtime a day because we couldn't cope with patient demand," Moeletsi says.
"It is impossible, under such conditions, to perform your duties without mistakes happening. That's the reality of under-staffing and it's the nurses who suffer the consequences," she said.