Private Duty Nursing and Post-Surgery Recovery Care in Los Angeles
Private duty nursing is one-to-one, private-pay skilled nursing at home, delivered by a Registered Nurse or a Licensed Vocational Nurse working under RN direction, for as many hours a day as the situation actually needs. In Los Angeles that most often means a family bringing someone home from surgery or a hospital stay and needing wound care, medication management and mobility support covered through the first, highest-risk days. WholeHealth Concierge places and supervises that nurse under Meagan Williams, RN, BSN, CCRN, California RN license 95328380. Private-pay only, with hours and pricing confirmed on a free consultation, not published on this page.
Serving the City of Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Burbank, and Pasadena.
Los Angeles hospitals we coordinate discharges from
We are private-pay and independent of every hospital below. What we do is arrange a nurse before the patient leaves, so the drive home is not the moment the plan runs out.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
919 licensed beds, a Level I adult trauma center.
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
446 licensed beds, a Level I adult trauma center.
Keck Hospital of USC
343 licensed beds, part of Keck Medicine of USC.
Huntington Hospital, Pasadena
534 licensed beds, the San Gabriel Valley's only Level II trauma center.
Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, Burbank
383 licensed beds, serving the San Fernando Valley.
Kaiser Foundation Hospital, Los Angeles
492 licensed beds.
Licensed bed counts per the California Department of Health Care Access and Information, as cited on our Los Angeles County care resource guide, which covers the county's full trauma-center system and aging trends in more depth. WholeHealth Concierge is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or contracted with any hospital named on this page. For Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley specifically, see our Huntington Hospital and USC Arcadia Hospital coverage.
What the first 72 hours home actually look like
The 72 hours after surgery are the highest-risk window in the whole recovery. Anesthesia is still clearing, pain typically peaks between 48 and 72 hours, wounds are still in the inflammatory phase, and a family is usually managing several new medications with no nurse standing nearby.
- Pain, on a schedule. Medication given ahead of pain rather than after it escalates, for at least the first 48 hours, with every dose logged.
- Wound checked every 12 hours. Color of the edges, drainage, swelling and warmth, and any drain output, watched for the specific changes that mean infection rather than normal healing.
- Movement every 2 to 4 hours while awake. Short walks and hourly deep breathing to protect against blood clots and pneumonia, balanced against rest.
- Fluids and food on a schedule. Frequent fluids and light, easily digested food, since anesthesia and pain medication both slow the gut.
- A clear red-flag list. Chest pain, sudden one-leg swelling, confusion, uncontrolled bleeding or stroke signs mean call 911. A fever above 101°F, spreading wound redness, or pain not responding to medication means call the surgeon's on-call line.
Full hour-by-hour breakdown, including home setup before discharge day, in our guide to the first 72 hours after surgery.
How many hours of nursing do Los Angeles families actually book after surgery?
There is no single number, and anyone who quotes one before talking to you is guessing. Hours are set by the procedure, the surgeon's written discharge orders, and who else is home overnight to absorb part of the risk. A same-day procedure with a healthy spouse at home may need one check-in visit. A joint replacement or a cardiac procedure discharged to someone living alone can need eight, twelve, or twenty-four hours a day, at least at first.
A short clinical intake call, usually about ten minutes, sets the starting number by walking through the procedure, the discharge orders, and the household's overnight situation. Hours typically step down as pain and mobility improve, rather than staying flat for the whole recovery. Full explanation at how many hours of nursing does someone need after surgery.
Overnight, 24-hour and live-in coverage in Los Angeles
These three get used as if they were the same service. They are not, and the difference decides what a family pays and who is awake at 3 a.m.
Overnight nursing
One shift, usually ten to twelve hours, covering the night. The nurse is awake and working the whole time. Most families start here, because sleep is usually the first thing that breaks.
24-hour nursing
Continuous coverage built from two or three rotating nurses, since no single nurse can safely work around the clock. The most expensive option and usually the shortest-lived, used through a crisis or high-risk window.
Live-in nursing
One nurse stays in the home with defined sleep and break periods. Less expensive per day than stacking shifts, but the nurse is not awake for all twenty-four hours, which matters clinically.
Choosing live-in for a case that needs waking, hands-on care is the most common expensive mistake in this category. The intake call is where we sort out which one a recovery needs. Full detail at overnight, 24-hour and live-in nursing.
Cost and coverage: what Medicare pays, and what you pay
Medicare does not cover private duty nursing. Medicare's own long-term care page states plainly that Medicare does not pay for long-term care, and the federal Benefit Policy Manual excludes private-duty nurses and attendants from covered services. Medicare home health, a different and more limited benefit, is generally capped at about 8 hours a day and 28 hours a week. Private duty nursing covers hours beyond that ceiling.
WholeHealth Concierge is private-pay, with no insurance billing and no Medicare claim involved. We do not publish rates on this site; the right level of care, RN or LVN, shift length, and any specialty services, is set case by case on the intake call. Some long-term care insurance policies reimburse for private duty nursing when their own criteria are met, covered in our guide to whether long-term care insurance will pay for a private nurse. Pricing for your situation is confirmed by phone, during a free consultation.
Verify the license before you hire anyone, including us
Every California RN and LVN license is searchable, free, through the state's own systems. Search by license number rather than name, because a common name can return the wrong person, sometimes one carrying discipline on record.
WholeHealth Concierge places and supervises a screened team of licensed RNs and LVNs under Meagan Williams' clinical oversight. She is not the nurse on every shift, and no provider can staff round-the-clock coverage with one person. Ask which license covers which hours, who supervises the plan, and what happens if a nurse calls out.
If discharge day itself is the harder problem, our printable hospital discharge checklist covers papers, medications, follow-up care and equipment to check before you leave.
Common questions from Los Angeles families
Does Medicare cover private duty nursing in Los Angeles?
No. Medicare's own long-term care page states plainly that Medicare does not pay for long-term or custodial care, and the CMS Benefit Policy Manual excludes private-duty nurses and private-duty attendants from covered services. Private duty nursing is private-pay. Some long-term care insurance policies reimburse for it when their criteria are met.
Which Los Angeles hospitals does WholeHealth Concierge coordinate discharges from?
Families we work with are discharged from hospitals across the county's trauma and community system, including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Keck Hospital of USC, Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, and Kaiser Foundation Hospital, Los Angeles. WholeHealth Concierge is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or contracted with any hospital named here.
How many hours of private nursing does a family in Los Angeles actually need after surgery?
There is no fixed number. It depends on the procedure, the surgeon's discharge orders, and who is already home overnight. A short clinical intake call, usually about ten minutes, sets the starting number of hours, and hours typically step down as the person stabilizes rather than staying flat for the whole recovery.
What is the difference between overnight, 24-hour and live-in nursing?
Overnight nursing is one awake shift, usually ten to twelve hours, covering the night. Twenty-four-hour nursing is continuous coverage built from two or three rotating nurses, since no one nurse can safely work around the clock. Live-in nursing keeps one nurse in the home with defined sleep and break periods, and costs less per day, but that nurse is not awake for all twenty-four hours.
Is a Registered Nurse or a Licensed Vocational Nurse the right fit?
Most private duty schedules in Los Angeles are a mix of both. A Registered Nurse handles assessment and complex clinical judgment. A Licensed Vocational Nurse handles routine clinical tasks under RN direction. WholeHealth Concierge places and supervises a screened team of RNs and LVNs under Meagan Williams' clinical oversight; she is not the nurse on every shift, and no provider can staff round-the-clock coverage with a single person.
How do I verify a private duty nurse's license before hiring in Los Angeles?
Search by license number, not name, at the California Department of Consumer Affairs license search, search.dca.ca.gov, or the Board of Registered Nursing's public BreEZe lookup at breeze.ca.gov. Meagan Williams' California RN license is 95328380, and her NPI is 1124989306, both checkable before you hire anyone, including WholeHealth Concierge.
What does private duty nursing cost in Los Angeles?
WholeHealth Concierge does not publish rates on this site. Pricing depends on whether the hours are RN or LVN, the shift length, and any specialty services involved, and it is confirmed by phone during a free consultation rather than quoted from a fixed menu.
Keep reading
Los Angeles County Care Resource Guide
The full trauma-center system, aging trends and countywide pricing tiers.
Read the guide →Pasadena & San Gabriel Valley
Our dedicated page for Huntington Hospital and USC Arcadia Hospital discharges.
See Pasadena coverage →Private Duty Nursing
What it is, why Medicare will not pay, and how to verify a license, in full.
Read the full guide →Post-Operative Recovery
Our general in-home recovery service, for every kind of surgery.
See recovery care →RN Care Manager, Orange County
Why the RN license matters, and how to verify any care manager's license.
Learn more →Hospital Discharge Checklist
A printable, one-page RN checklist for discharge day.
Get the checklist →Speak with our care team about your Los Angeles situation
Every consultation starts with a confidential conversation. We listen to the situation, identify what is medically at stake, and walk you through what private duty nursing would look like for your family, with hours and pricing confirmed before any plan is set.