Private duty nursing is the provision of professional care by licensed nurses. Private duty nurses may be LPNs/LVNs or RNs. Private duty nursing offers many benefits. Private duty nursing has many advantages. Patients are given one-on-one care and caregivers can be more flexible about their schedules. However, there is also a downside. Below are some cons of private duty nursing.
It was flexible work
Private duty nursing was once a great option to a full-time job. Hospitals rarely offered permanent jobs for nurses and instead hired them on a per-diem basis, allowing them to work whenever they were needed. This was to save money while still providing adequate staffing levels for their patients. The per-diem approach was dissatisfying for private duty nurses so many stayed in private-duty.
It was seen as a wasteful use of professional nurse resources
Private duty nursing used to be considered a waste of professional nurses' resources. Today, private duty nursing is more common. Many hospitals have now banned private duty nursing. Nurse unions have also begun to protest against the practice. The reason for the shift in opinion is as simple as lack of staffing and the availability of resources in drug rooms.
It's still very popular today.
Private duty nursing, despite its increasing popularity, is still an unpaid form. Private nurses are paid by the client out of their own pocket. However, insurance will usually cover them in proportion to their medical needs. Even if the client is only requiring medication one time per day, some insurance policies will cover the entire cost of the care arrangement. If the client stops requiring medical attention, the insurance will stop covering any further nursing services.
