Does Canada Have Private Duty Nursing Like The U.S.?

[K28Nurse]

I'm a RN working in the U.S. as a Private Duty Nurse and was curious about whether or not there is such as thing in Canada. Here in the Medicaid pays for patients to have Private Duty Nurses and I wanted to know if there was such a thing in Canada? I am thinking about trying to try my luck in Canada but want to be informed before I make any moves.

[OttawaRPN]

Private duty, as in home care, yes. Many agencies employ nurses working in the community, not sure if you can do this independently, though.

[Fiona59]

Most families despite their desire for a "private nurse" just aren't willing to pay for it. I know my husband's benefit plan would pay for it if required but I've never heard of any one actually having a private nurse.

The closest thing I've seen is companions or sitters that just notify the staff. There have been home care LPNs but they are usually overnight pediatric/relief staff for children with trachs, etc.

[K28Nurse]

I work as a private nurse here through an agency. They send us out to cases with pedi patients which usually have feeding tubes and mosr are trach/vent dependent. Medicaid pays for us to take care of them in their own homes.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

There are agencies here, such as Bayshore, WeCare, the VON (non-profit) and a couple of others that provide in-home caregivers; I worked for one back in the 90's. The health care system generally does not pay for any of the services these agencies provide unless they're staff-relief shifts in hospitals or publicly-funded nursing homes. Alberta doesn't have agency nurses providing in-hospital staff relief and I'm not sure any of the other provinces are currently utilizing them either. In-home care is paid for typically by private insurance such as Blue Cross, or out-of-pocket. My experience with Olsten Health System is that the hourly rate of pay was significantly lower than the public sector rates with no benefits, there was no pay for travel between clients, there was no guarantee of hours, there was a lot of red tape to unravel, the clientele often had very difficult personalities, and there was a significant degree of subterfuge when they called to book my services. It was not my favourite job!

[RN_Canada]

If you have a nursing license as long as your are providing nursing care (it must meet the legal definition of nursing) you can do this independently as a self employed person.

You must maintain your professional standards and all other requirements of your license.

Provincial health care insurance will generally pay for care that is medically necessary.

Lots of people get nursing care in their homes as part of the general health insurance provided in each province, but a Registered Nurse cannot bill for it.

I have never heard of a private duty nurse with a billing number so I am quite certain that a nurse cannot bill the government directly. However, if care is required in the home then the health care system takes care of that but that is not usually a private duty registered nurse who provides that care. Sometimes the government will have a contract with a nursing agency to provide care in these cases.

Some private insurance plans (extended health care insurance) will pay for the services of a professional nurse if required by a doctor. However, if nursing care is required then it would be paid for by the regular insurance so it is a bit of duplication there.

Families who want to hire a private duty nurse can do so by advertising for one or by going to an agency.

You can hire a private duty nurse to care for your family member in hospital, at home, or in a nursing home.

When you provide private care you do not have the protection of a union, or benefits provided by an employer for things like workers compensation, unemployment insurance, and ongoing education as you foot the bill for all that yourself.

[SupMelissa]

I am the Nursing Supervisor for such an agency and we do Private Nursing Duty in the home. The clenets usually have to have supplemental insurance to provide the service, but it is available.

[RN_Canada]

I am the Nursing Supervisor for such an agency and we do Private Nursing Duty in the home

Yes many agencies do provide private nursing services but that is quite different than private duty.

In Canada to my knowledge, nurses ( Nurse practitioners excepted) do not have billing numbers and cannot bill the government for nursing services provided to their own private clients.

When your nurses provide service to clients your agency has the contract with the nurse and is paid by the client. The agency then employs the nurse and pays the nurse to deliver the care.

This is quite different from the client having a contract with the nurse.

However, there is nothing preventing anyone from hiring a registered nurse and paying them privately but they do bear the entire cost of that on their own.

[missydon]

What did you find out?

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

This is a seven year old thread. Anything that might have been learned then has surely changed by now.