Understanding Home Health Care Nurse

We've written about what a home health nurse actually does and how the role fits into Medicare coverage. This is specifically about the practical part: how to actually find and arrange one, depending on your situation.

Path 1: Through Medicare-Covered Home Health

If your loved one meets Medicare's eligibility criteria, your first step is a referral from their physician to a Medicare-certified home health agency. The agency assigns nursing staff as part of the covered care plan — you generally don't select an individual nurse directly.

Path 2: Hiring Privately

Outside Medicare's eligibility window, families can hire a registered nurse privately for skilled tasks — this is private duty nursing, billed at skilled-nursing rates. This path makes sense when there's a specific ongoing clinical need that doesn't fit Medicare's intermittent, time-limited model.

Path 3: An RN Option Through a Home Care Agency

Some non-medical home care agencies, including ours, offer an RN Care Professional tier — clinical oversight layered onto non-medical daily support, rather than a full private-duty nursing arrangement. This can be a middle option for families who want some added clinical layer without the full cost and structure of dedicated private duty nursing.

How to Decide Which Path Fits

Ask: does my loved one have Medicare coverage and meet the eligibility criteria? If yes, start there. If not, does the situation require ongoing, hands-on clinical tasks (wound care, injections, complex medication management), or would non-medical support with some clinical oversight be enough? That distinction generally points toward private duty nursing versus an RN-enhanced non-medical arrangement.

Questions to Ask Before Hiring

Confirm current licensure, ask about specific experience relevant to your situation, and get clarity on exactly what tasks will and won't be covered — skilled nursing scope varies, and it's worth knowing precisely what you're arranging before care starts.

How Interim Fits In

We're primarily a non-medical home care agency, with an RN Care Professional option for families whose situation calls for that layer. We'll tell you honestly which path — ours or a different arrangement — actually fits your situation.

Our 7th Week Guarantee

No long contracts. If you don't feel the difference after six weeks of care at 20 or more hours a week, your seventh week is free.

Get Started

Call Us and describe what you're dealing with. We'll help you figure out which path makes sense.

Learn more about what a home health nurse does, our RN care services, and private duty nursing.