Private duty nursing is the care of clients by

nurses Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

, who may be licensed as RNs ( Registered Nurses) or LPNs/LVNs ( Licensed Practical Nurses). In the late 19th and around the beginning of the 20th century, private duty nursing was seen as "the ultimate goal of a trained nurse, both internationally and in Australia". Compared with hospital nursing, its professional status was superior, and the pay was better. Private duty nurses were allowed to work and reside at some hospitals, such as the

Private Hospital, Wakefield Street The Calvary Wakefield Hospital, formerly Private Hospital, Wakefield Street (PHWS) and variants, Wakefield Street Private Hospital, Wakefield Memorial Hospital and Wakefield Hospital, referred to informally as "the Wakefield", was a private ho ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. Most

who provide private duty care work one-on-one with individual clients. Such care may be provided in the client's home or in an institution, such as a hospital,

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...

or other such facilities.''Private Practice in Nursing: Development and Management'', Private duty may be paid by private pay, private insurance, managed care organizations, or Medicaid. Many private duty nursing cases involve pediatric patients on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) who have long-term illnesses such as Cerebral Palsy (CP) and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI). Many patients need care for a Gastrostomy Tube (G-Tube), Tracheostomy (Trach) or Ventilator (Vent). Private duty nurses are usually either Registered Nurses (RNs) or Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurses (LPN/LVNs). Many private duty nurses are

self-employed Self-employment is the state of working for oneself rather than an employer. Tax authorities will generally view a person as self-employed if the person chooses to be recognised as such or if the person is generating income for which a tax return n ...

or work as

contractors A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...

. Others work in the ever-growing field of home care. The practice of private duty nursing was in many senses a precursor to a rise (in the 1980s) of wider-scale nurses

entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

. Non-medical care can be provided by the nurse but is most often provided by unlicensed assistive personnel such as nursing assistants, home health aides, personal care attendants, sitters, professional homemakers, or individuals with other titles. These caregivers often help with hygiene and housekeeping tasks for their clients, but they cannot provide skilled nursing care.

References

{{Nursing Nursing specialties Community nursing