What Is Private Duty Nursing?
Private Duty Nursing (PDN) is a specialized level of home care provided by licensed medical professionals, such as Registered Nurses (RNs) and Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs).
Unlike traditional, intermittent home health visits, PDN offers continuous, high-acuity medical care on an hourly basis—sometimes around the clock. This allows individuals with chronic, complex, or fragile medical conditions to receive hospital-level treatment and monitoring while remaining safe, comfortable, and independent in their own homes. It ensures consistent, one-on-one attention from a dedicated skilled nurse who understands your loved one’s unique medical history.
Those that benefit from private duty personal care services
PDN is generally required when a person's medical needs extend beyond basic personal care (ADLs) and require a skilled nurse for extended periods. This level of support is ideal for individuals:
- With complex chronic illnesses requiring specialized monitoring and intervention.
- Dependent on medical equipment (e.g., ventilators, feeding tubes, IV lines).
- Requiring advanced, long-term care due to a debilitating illness or injury.
- Needing round-the-clock clinical oversight to prevent hospital re-admissions.
Specialized private duty services
Our licensed nurses provide comprehensive medical and personal care, tailored specifically to the patient’s physician-ordered plan.
Skilled Nursing and Clinical Services:
- Advanced Respiratory Care: Ventilator and BiPAP management, suctioning, tracheostomy care.
- Complex Wound Care: Changing sterile dressings and monitoring healing progress.
- Medication Administration: IV therapy, injections, pain management, and detailed medication oversight.
- Gastrointestinal Support: Gastrostomy (G-tube) and Jejunostomy (J-tube) feeding and maintenance.
- Urinary & Ostomy Care: Catheter maintenance and ostomy appliance management.
- Chronic Disease Management: Continuous monitoring of vital signs and symptoms for conditions like heart failure or COPD.
- Specialized Dementia & Alzheimer's Care: Implementing comprehensive medical and behavioral management plans.
Supporting activities of daily living (ADLs)
While the primary focus of Private Duty Nursing is skilled medical care, our RNs and LPNs seamlessly integrate essential personal assistance to ensure holistic care. They are trained to assist with all Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs), combining medical oversight with compassionate human care.
- Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) are the essential tasks of self-care (bathing, dressing, transferring, feeding).
- Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) are complex tasks that support independent living (meal preparation, medication management, transportation).
By managing both the complex medical needs and the day-to-day personal care, our private duty nurses ensure your loved one receives unparalleled continuity of care.
A Note on Financing
Private Duty Nursing is typically paid for privately by the client or family, or through a long-term care insurance policy. Since this continuous, hourly care goes beyond what Medicare and most traditional health insurance plans cover for short-term, intermittent home health, it offers exceptional flexibility and higher staffing ratios to meet the most intensive needs.
