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True Care is happy to announce our new service: Private Duty Nursing.

Meet our Director of Private Duty Nursing, James Frand. James started as an EMT volunteer then worked for the 911 system and decided to go into the nursing track, as opposed to a paramedic, after that. He chose to continue on that path ever since acquiring a Master’s degree in Nursing and experience as an administrator and director of nursing. This gives him the unique ability to run both sides of the program; one being client advocacy and the other being the administrative side, which includes hiring our nurses and staffing our cases. Throughout his six years in this field, he saw a growing need to advocate for his patients with insurance companies and would often fight for them to receive the services they needed using his expertise to validate their case.

Private Duty Nursing is a program that many, even most nurses, do not know much about. For each case, the client must rely on one of three types of medical equipment to survive: a tracheostomy tube, a ventilator, or a feeding tube (PEG). James hopes to accomplish a number of things while at True Care. One of his top goals is to continue caring for True Care clients who were previously receiving home health aide assistance in their home but fell sick and needed to be transferred to a facility like a nursing home or admitted to a hospital. Now that True Care offers Private Duty Nursing as a home care option, we can continue to care for our clients during their stay at a facility and prepare them for a safe and healthy return home. By teaming up with our already established team of skilled nurses we now have the ability to offer a larger spectrum of care.

This is the third time James has built out a program like this for a company. He had the following to say about the process:

“Starting from the ground up is always challenging but once it’s up and running it’s a great program for everyone. It runs very nicely and it’s smooth going once everything is in place. It pays off right away.

“The most rewarding part of building a program like this is when someone tells me they were stuck in a nursing home for 4 years and I come in and they are happy at home 2 months later. Or when a patient is on a ventilator and they slowly wean off and getting better over time because they’re at home now as opposed to a nursing home or hospital. It’s a nice feeling to see ‘Wow’ they’re off the trach now or off the vent now and breathing on their own. That is very rewarding.”

We asked James why he believes Private Duty Nursing is more beneficial to our clients and why this program is so important.

“The benefit of having a client at home is, on the one hand, you have your family around you all the time. They don't have to make a special trip to visit during restricted hours, in and out of a facility or sitting in a waiting room because the facility only allows one or two visitors at a time. Many times there are patients next to them who are dying or they are placed with much sicker patients exposing them to more health risks. Whether it be pediatrics or adults it’s not a very uplifting or healthy environment. The second part of it is that the germs around you are your own or familiar in that they are either your family’s or a choice few nurses or caregivers. It’s your own room, your own bed, and for most cases, it’s one-on-one care as opposed to multiple people coming in and out poking and prodding. It’s one doctor, your 4 nurses [if you have round the clock care], and your family and that’s it. It’s your own environment. You say what you need at the time that you need it rather than having to wait for the facility staff to become available because they have numerous other patients to care for. It’s just a healthier place to be. The person’s mind can be at ease. All of this contributes to a positive environment for our clients.”

If you or your loved one could benefit from our new Private Duty Nursing service, please contact us and we will be happy to assist.