Your doctor's orders or your plan of care for home care may require that certain nursing tasks be performed in order for you or your loved one to stay safely in your home. Some of those tasks can be performed by family members who are comfortable undertaking them with instruction from your physician or nurse. Some of those tasks can be performed by professional home care or home health aides through the use of nurse delegation.

Other nursing tasks should only be performed by an appropriately trained and licensed nurse to comply with the law and to ensure patient safety. Examples of skilled nursing services are injections, wound care or medication management (see our page on nurse delegation for the distinction between medication assistance and medication management). 

Some people may choose to go to their doctor's office or a local clinic to have the required nursing tasks performed. For others, this is too difficult or simply not convenient.

Your doctor, the nurse that you meet during your home care assessment or your geriatric care manager, can discuss these options with you. You will want to consider what is possible, the cost and the convenience of the various ways to meet your medical needs. CareForce has experienced home health nurses available to help with these tasks. Our nurses can assist by arranging for use of nurse delegation (when appropriate), or by scheduling skilled nursing visits to ensure that you receive the quality health care that you need.