Skilled Home Health Care
Private Duty Nursing at Home
Most people who call asking for a private nurse do not need one. They need a home health aide, which costs considerably less and does the thing they actually described. We would rather tell you that on the first call than sell you nursing hours you do not need. Focus Family Care provides private duty nursing across seven South Florida and Treasure Coast counties.
What Our Private Duty Nurses Do
Skilled Nursing Shifts
A licensed RN or LPN present for 8, 12 or 24 hours, not a visit of a few minutes.
Ventilator and Tracheostomy Care
Airway management and ventilator support under a physician's plan of care.
IV Therapy, Infusions and Injections
Intravenous medication and fluids administered and monitored at home.
Wound Care
Sterile technique and clinical judgment about whether a wound is healing as it should.
Catheter and Ostomy Management
Routine care, changes and troubleshooting, with dignity preserved.
Feeding Tube Management
Pump care, site care and management of a feeding tube at home.
Clinical Assessment
Recognizing that something has changed and deciding what to do about it, including escalation.
Family Training
Teaching the household to manage equipment and respond confidently between shifts.
Quick Answer
Private duty nursing is continuous, one-to-one skilled nursing at home, delivered by a licensed RN or LPN in shifts rather than visits. It is the right answer when a task legally requires a nurse. When it does not, an aide is usually the better and cheaper choice, and Medicare will not fund either as ongoing care.
Key Takeaways
- A private nurse, personal nurse and home health aide are not the same thing, and most callers want the aide.
- Private duty nursing is shifts, not visits: 8, 12 or 24 hours of one-to-one skilled nursing.
- Medicare does not generally pay for it. Long-term care insurance often does, and that is the funding families are most likely to have forgotten they hold.
- Focus Family Care has more than 30 RNs and LPNs available for shift work across seven counties.
Three different things, and only one of them is a nurse
Almost every confusing conversation about care at home comes from these three being muddled together.
- A home health aide provides personal care: Bathing, dressing, transfers, meals, mobility, medication reminders, company, driving. An aide is trained and screened but is not a licensed nurse, and cannot perform medical tasks.
- Medicare home health is a short course of intermittent skilled visits: A nurse or therapist comes two or three times a week for a defined period after a hospital stay, the patient must be certified as homebound, and it ends when the skilled goal is met.
- Private duty nursing is continuous one-to-one skilled nursing, in shifts: A licensed RN or LPN is present for eight, twelve or twenty-four hours at a time, performing medical tasks under a physician's plan of care.
What actually requires a licensed nurse
The three cost very different amounts and are funded very differently. Working out which one you actually need is the most valuable thing you can do before you call anybody.
This is the practical test. If none of the following apply, you probably need an aide, and hiring a skilled nurse to do aide work is not safer. It is just more expensive.
- Ventilator management and tracheostomy care: Airway support that cannot be delegated to a non-nurse.
- Intravenous therapy, infusions and injections: Anything delivered into a vein or by needle.
- Wound care requiring sterile technique: Or clinical judgment about whether healing is on track.
- Catheter and ostomy management: Routine care and troubleshooting when something is wrong.
- Administering medication, as distinct from reminding: The distinction is legal, not semantic. An aide may remind. A nurse may administer.
- Managing a feeding tube: Pump settings, site care and responding when something blocks.
- Clinical assessment: Recognizing that something has changed and deciding what to do about it.
- Unstable conditions: Where a change could become an emergency quickly.
Shifts, not visits
If the need is bathing, dressing, meals, supervision, company and getting to appointments, that is aide work. Private duty nursing is scheduled in blocks, and that changes how you plan it.
Common patterns are an eight-hour day shift, a twelve-hour overnight, or full 24/7 nursing care at home split between nurses. Some families use nursing staff at home overnight and an aide during the day, which is often the sensible combination when the medical need is concentrated at night.
You are paying for the nurse's presence for the whole shift, not per task. That is what makes it expensive and also what makes it work, because the value is in someone competent being there when something changes at 3am.
Who pays for it, honestly
- Medicare does not generally pay for private duty nursing: Medicare covers intermittent skilled visits under its home health benefit. It does not fund a nurse sitting with someone for eight hours. This is the single most common misunderstanding we correct.
- Florida Medicaid can cover it in some circumstances: Adult coverage is narrower than the coverage available to children under twenty-one.
- Long-term care insurance frequently does cover it: More adult private duty nursing is funded this way than families expect. Find the policy before you commit to anything and we will interpret it for you without charging.
- Private pay is how most adult private duty nursing is funded: We quote in writing before anything begins, and we will tell you if a combination of nursing and aide hours would achieve the same result for less.
When it is the right answer, and when it is not
It is the right answer when a medical task on the list above has to happen at home, when someone is being discharged with equipment the family cannot safely manage, when a condition is unstable enough that a lay person would not recognize a deterioration, or when a family has been managing clinical care themselves and is no longer safe to continue.
It is not the right answer when the real problem is loneliness, when the household mainly needs help with daily living, when the person is stable and the family simply wants reassurance, or when the budget would be better spent on more aide hours across more of the week.
We will say so. Turning down a nursing case that should be an aide case costs us money in the short run and is the reason families come back to us later.
What people mean by a personal care nurse
Personal care nurse is a phrase people use constantly, and it does not describe a single job. It usually means one of two things.
Sometimes it means a private nurse for hire, an RN or LPN engaged directly for one person rather than working a hospital floor. That is private duty nursing, and it is what this page describes.
More often it means a caregiver who helps with personal care, which is aide work rather than nursing. If that is what you are picturing, home health aides and personal care are the pages you want, and the cost is substantially lower.
Focus Family Care is both a licensed home health agency and a private nursing agency, so we can staff either and will tell you which one your situation actually calls for.
What we can tell you about staffing
Focus Family Care has more than 30 RNs and LPNs available for shift work across the seven counties we serve. All shift patterns can be staffed, including days, nights, weekends and 24-hour coverage.
From your first call, the typical time to a first shift is 24 to 48 hours. A registered nurse writes and supervises every plan of care.
Private duty nursing for children
Pediatric private duty nursing works differently. Hours are usually authorized through Florida Medicaid rather than purchased, federal rules cover under-twenty-ones more broadly than adults, and the practical problem is staffing the authorized hours rather than obtaining them. See pediatric private duty nursing and home care.
Where we provide private duty nursing
Across Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee counties, with city pages for West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Miami, Stuart, Port St. Lucie and Vero Beach.
How We Know This
Focus Family Care is a Florida-licensed home health agency and nurse registry (License NR #30211928, HHA #299995403) accredited by ACHC. Guidance on this page is reviewed by the agency's Director of Nursing, and coverage details are verified with each family's insurance before care begins.
Sources
Insurance & Payment
We Accept Medicare, Medicaid, Private Pay, and 100+ Insurance Plans
Focus Family Care accepts Medicare, Florida Medicaid, private pay, and more than 100 private insurance plans, including most long-term care policies. We verify your coverage at no charge before the first visit.
Not sure what your plan covers? Call (561) 693-1311 for free insurance verification, no obligation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is private duty nursing?
Private duty nursing is continuous, one-to-one skilled nursing delivered at home by a licensed RN or LPN, in shifts of eight, twelve or twenty-four hours rather than short visits. It exists for medical tasks that legally require a nurse.
What is the difference between a private nurse and a home health aide?
A private nurse is a licensed RN or LPN who can perform medical tasks such as IV therapy, ventilator care and administering medication. A home health aide provides personal care, including bathing, dressing, meals and mobility, and cannot perform medical tasks. Most people who ask for a private nurse need an aide.
How do I hire a nurse for home care?
Call Focus Family Care at (561) 693-1311 and describe what actually needs doing. We will tell you whether it requires a licensed nurse or whether an aide would do the same job for less, then arrange an in-home assessment. A registered nurse writes the plan of care before any shift begins.
Does Medicare pay for private duty nursing?
Generally no. Medicare covers intermittent skilled visits under its home health benefit for a defined period after a hospital stay. It does not fund a nurse present for a full shift as ongoing care. Long-term care insurance often does, and Florida Medicaid can in some circumstances.
Can you provide 24/7 nursing care at home?
Yes. Twenty-four-hour coverage is split between nurses across shifts. Many families combine overnight nursing with aide hours during the day, which costs less and works well when the medical need is concentrated at night.
How quickly can a nurse start?
The typical time from your first call to a first shift is 24 to 48 hours, following an in-home assessment. Focus Family Care has more than 30 RNs and LPNs available for shift work and can staff all shift patterns.
Request Home Health Care Today
Focus Family Care starts care in as little as 24 hours. Call now or request an in-home assessment. We answer around the clock.
515 N Flagler Drive, Ste 350, West Palm Beach, FL 33401