Pediatric Home Care
Pediatric home care supports children with complex medical or developmental needs in their own home, ranging from skilled nursing for technology-dependent children to non-medical help and respite for the family caring for them.
Reviewed by Valerie VanBooven, RN, BSN
What's Included
- Skilled nursing for children with tracheostomies, ventilators, or feeding tubes
- Medication administration and monitoring of a child's condition
- Help with bathing, feeding, positioning, and daily routines
- Support with therapy programmes set by the child's clinical team
- Respite so parents and siblings get rest and time together
- School and appointment support where a nurse must accompany the child
- Coordination with the child's paediatrician and specialist teams
Who It's For
Families of children with medical complexity, congenital conditions, or developmental disabilities who need clinical or practical support at home, and parents who cannot sustain round-the-clock care alone.
Understanding Pediatric Home Care
Pediatric home care is a distinct field rather than adult home care applied to a younger person. The conditions, the equipment, the training, and the way it is paid for are all different, and not every agency that serves adults is set up for it.
Much of it is private duty nursing: a nurse present for shifts to care for a child who depends on a ventilator, tracheostomy, or feeding tube. This is care that would otherwise require a hospital, delivered at home so the child can grow up with their family.
Alongside that sits non-medical support and respite, which is often what keeps a household functioning. Parents caring for a child with complex needs are frequently doing so overnight and indefinitely, and rest is not a luxury in that situation.
Funding usually runs through Medicaid, including the EPSDT provisions for children, state waiver programmes, or private insurance, rather than the routes familiar from senior care. Authorised hours are set by assessment and are often the central practical issue for a family.
When choosing a provider, the questions worth asking are about paediatric experience specifically: what training the nurses have with the child's equipment, how shifts are covered when someone calls out, and how the agency coordinates with the child's specialist team.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is pediatric home care?
Pediatric home care supports children with complex medical or developmental needs in their own home, ranging from skilled nursing for technology-dependent children to non-medical help and respite for the family caring for them.
Who is pediatric home care for?
Families of children with medical complexity, congenital conditions, or developmental disabilities who need clinical or practical support at home, and parents who cannot sustain round-the-clock care alone.
Other Services
How to Get Pediatric Home Care
Enter a city and state below to find home care providers in the Care Across America directory who serve that area. Contact them directly to ask whether they offer pediatric home care and to get pricing for your situation.