Private Nurses for Home Care

Patricia B. Gray, contributing writer for Money Magazine has written an excellent article regarding private nursing for home care.  She introduces this increasingly common alternative to institutional care for seniors:

You may think of private nurses as a luxury for the ultra-rich, like a butler or personal chauffeur. But hiring in-house medical care has become an increasingly viable option for regular folks too.

You can use a nurse to ease the transition from hospital to home after surgery or a major illness, or even to administer chemotherapy if you want to stay out of a clinic or hospital. Visits from a private nurse can help your elderly parent remain in his or her own house safely.

Care at home can be a less expensive option than an extended stay in a nursing facility, says Kathleen Kelly, executive director of the Family Caregiver Alliance, a San Francisco nonprofit. Still, the cost can add up quickly, and you may have to cover most of it yourself. So it pays to know whether you need a nurse and how to pick one.

The article also provides some useful suggestions regarding proper utilization and management of this alternative.  Although the article mentions the burden of financing private nursing care, the article does not discuss how proper financial and estate planning can make this alternative more or less viable. It is wise to consider long term care objectives, costs, needs, and risks in crafting an appropriate estate and financial plan.  For some this will mean consideration and purchase of traditional long term care insurance, for others this will mean consideration of financial alternatives such as life insurance that converts a death benefit to a lifetime benefit for the purposes of paying long term care costs.  Others will choose to self-insure, but will need to consider whether they have sufficient assets guaranteed to meet long term care needs.

Whatever your situation, effective planning can make a world of difference in your options and eventual outcomes!