---
title: "What Is Skilled nursing care? Home Care Glossary | HomeCare.com"
description: "Skilled nursing care is nursing and therapy that only licensed professionals, or staff supervised by them, can safely provide. Examples include wound care,..."
url: https://homecare.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/skilled-nursing-care/
publisher: HomeCare.com
phone: 800-974-3458
start: https://care.homecare.com/?source=homecare.com
---

Types of care

# Skilled nursing care

Skilled nursing care is nursing and therapy that only licensed professionals, or staff supervised by them, can safely provide. Examples include wound care, injections, and physical therapy. A doctor orders it. It can happen at home or in a facility, and Medicare covers it only in set situations.

## Why it matters for your family

Skilled care is medical, so it differs from the non-medical help most home care companies offer. Families sometimes need both. A nurse may dress a surgical wound twice a week while a caregiver helps with meals and bathing. Medicare can cover part-time or intermittent skilled nursing at home when a person qualifies. It also covers short stays in a skilled nursing facility after a qualifying hospital stay. A common mistake is expecting Medicare to pay for the daily non-medical help that follows. Ask the doctor or discharge planner exactly which services count as skilled.

Source: [medicare.gov](https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/skilled-nursing-facility-snf-care)

## Related terms

-   [**Skilled nursing facility (SNF)**A skilled nursing facility (SNF) is a Medicare-certified facility that provides nursing and therapy that only professionals can safely give.](https://homecare.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/skilled-nursing-facility/)
-   [**Home health care**Home health care is medical care given at home for an illness or injury, such as skilled nursing and therapy.](https://homecare.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/home-health-care/)
-   [**Registered nurse (RN)**A registered nurse (RN) is a licensed nurse who assesses patients, gives medicines and treatments, helps make care plans, and teaches patients and families how to manage illness at home.](https://homecare.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/registered-nurse/)
-   [**Licensed practical nurse (LPN)**A licensed practical nurse (LPN), called a licensed vocational nurse (LVN) in some states, gives basic medical care, such as monitoring vital signs, changing bandages, and helping with bathing and dressing.](https://homecare.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/licensed-practical-nurse/)
-   [**Discharge planning**Discharge planning is the process a hospital, nursing home or other facility uses to prepare a patient to leave.](https://homecare.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/discharge-planning/)
-   [**Custodial care**Custodial care is non-medical help with daily living, such as bathing, dressing, eating, and using the toilet.](https://homecare.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/custodial-care/)

[All glossary terms](https://homecare.preview.multisites.ai/glossary/)

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