Choosing the right care for yourself or a loved one can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re not sure if home care or nursing care is the best option. Knowing the differences between the two can help you make an informed decision that ensures you or your loved one gets the support needed, whether at home or in a residential setting.
Nursing care is typically needed when more complex medical tasks are required. However, many healthcare needs can still be managed at home with the right support from a trained Caregiver, especially when working in partnership with a district nurse. Caregivers can assist with personal care, medication management, and even some medical tasks like catheter care or PEG feeding under guidance.
This means that while nursing care is essential for certain medical situations, a lot of support can still be provided by home care teams and district nurses working together, often allowing people to remain in the comfort of their own home.
What is Considered Nursing Care?
Nursing care is a specialist type of care which involves more complex medical tasks and requires clinical training. This includes things like administering injections, managing IVs, and changing wound dressings. These tasks go beyond what professional Caregivers are trained to do and need the expertise of a registered nurse.
Nursing Care at Home vs a Nursing Care Home
Nursing care at home means that a district nurse or private nurse will visit the home to help with these tasks. It’s an ideal option for individuals who don’t require constant medical oversight but still need help with personal care and some healthcare tasks. It allows many people to avoid moving into a residential care home that offers nursing care.
Receiving care in the comfort of their own home means clients can maintain their daily routines, stay close to loved ones, and enjoy the familiarity of their surroundings while still getting the care they need.
On the other hand, nursing care in a care home (often referred to as a nursing home) offers 24-hour support from a team of nurses and carers. This setting is ideal for individuals who require round-the-clock medical attention or who have more complex or multiple health conditions. People typically need nursing care for more complex medical tasks. With the right support from a trained Caregiver, however, they can manage many healthcare needs at home, especially when Caregivers partner with a district nurse.
When Nursing Care is Necessary
Nursing care becomes essential when a person’s medical needs are too complex for a Caregiver to handle without specialised expertise. Some examples of situations where nursing care is required include:
- Managing chronic conditions: Medical conditions like advanced dementia, Parkinson’s disease, or multiple sclerosis may require nursing care to manage feeding tubes, medication administration, or complex care routines.
- Post-surgical recovery: After serious surgery, nursing care may be necessary to manage wound care, monitor recovery, or handle pain management through injections or IVs.
- Constant medical oversight: If someone needs continuous monitoring for conditions like severe respiratory issues or is using medical equipment like ventilators, nursing care is essential to ensure safety and proper management.
In these cases, regular visits from a nurse may be enough if the person prefers to stay at home, but if the need for medical support is ongoing and complex, moving to a nursing care home might be a better option. This allows for constant supervision 24 hours a day and swift medical intervention if needed.
What Home Carers Can and Cannot Do
Tasks That Require Medical Support from a Nurse
Certain medical tasks require the clinical expertise of a licensed nurse, as they involve more complex or higher-risk procedures. These tasks include:
- Administering injections: For medications like insulin, anticoagulants, or pain relief injections.
- Managing medical devices: Tasks such as setting up, adjusting, or monitoring IVs and
ventilators.
ventilators.- Handling complex wound care: For example, post-operative wounds, pressure ulcers, or infected wounds that require specialised dressing and ongoing monitoring.
- Inserting or removing catheters: Nurses must perform catheter insertion or removal, but home carers assist with day-to-day catheter care.
- Tube feeding (in some cases): Administering feeds through a nasogastric (NG) tube or setting up parenteral (IV) nutrition requires nursing oversight. However we work with nurse teams to administer medications and nutritional supplements through our delegated health care strategy.
The medical care provided in these instances requires nursing-level expertise to ensure the safety and well-being of the individual receiving care.
Tasks Home Care Providers Can Support With
Professional Caregivers are highly skilled and ready to help with a variety of tasks that make daily life easier and support overall health. We work with healthcare professionals who delegate certain tasks to us. Caregivers can assist with:
Personal care: Bathing, dressing, oral hygiene, toileting, and continence care.
Mobility and transfers: Assisting with moving around the home, transferring from bed to wheelchair, using mobility aids like walkers or hoists, and preventing falls.
- Basic medical support:
- Assisting with catheter care (e.g., emptying catheter bags).
- Supporting with stoma care.
- Changing simple dressings (for minor wounds, under guidance).
- Monitoring vital signs, like blood pressure or temperature, under instruction.
- Assisting with oxygen therapy (setting up equipment, under guidance).
- Medication assistance:
- Reminding clients to take prescribed medications.
- Administering medication
- Helping with applying topical creams or administering eye drops.
- Nutritional support:
- Help with meal preparation and ensuring dietary needs are met.
- Assisting with PEG (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy) feeding under the supervision of a delegated healthcare professional.
- Companionship: Offering emotional support, engaging in conversation, and helping clients stay socially active.
- Light household duties: Assisting with tasks like laundry, cleaning, shopping, and meal preparation to maintain a clean and safe living environment.
- End-of-life care (non-medical tasks): Supporting comfort and dignity during palliative care by helping with personal care needs, oral care and providing emotional support to both the client and their family.
By working closely with district nurses or healthcare professionals, home care services can provide support that covers a broad range of needs, allowing clients to maintain their independence at home.
Finding the Right Care for Your Needs
Deciding between home care and nursing care comes down to understanding the specific needs of yourself or your loved one. While nursing care is crucial for more complex medical tasks—like administering injections, managing medical devices, or handling advanced wound care—many people find that a combination of home care and district nurse support can meet most healthcare requirements without needing to move into a care home.
Home care provides compassionate support with personal care, mobility support, and daily living tasks, helping individuals maintain their independence in the comfort of their own home. For those needing some level of medical oversight, district nurses can step in to manage more complex elements of care, allowing clients to stay at home longer, surrounded by familiar comforts.
Ultimately, the right choice will depend on the level of care needed. When someone requires constant medical supervision, a nursing care home may be the best option. However, if independence is important and medical needs are manageable with periodic nursing input, home care could offer the right balance of support and flexibility.
If you’re unsure whether home care can meet your needs or if nursing care is more appropriate, our team is here to help. Feel free to get in touch with us, and we’ll help you understand your options and find the right support.
Chloe joined us in early 2024 as our content manager. Having earned a first-class degree in digital marketing and spending more than six years in public relations, she’s well-placed to shape informative content and heartfelt stories that help inform our clients and connect them with the care they need.
Having worked across a multitude of different industries before care, Chloe’s passion lies in the meaningfulness of her work – from creating content that guides clients through their care journey to helping Caregivers find a rewarding new role.
At Unique, Chloe finds fulfilment in our supportive culture and the heart-warming stories from both clients and carers that highlight the impact of our services.
