January 2005 will be a nerve-wracking month for hundreds of newly-qualified professional nurses who will be waiting to be told where they will serve a year’s community service. But it will be an even bigger logistical nightmare for the Department of Health with just five months to ensure the latest programme of compulsory community service kicks off smoothly at the beginning of next year. In July, Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang announced ahead of her budget speech in Parliament the introduction of community service for nurses.