What is the difference between personal care and nursing care?

Answered by Sheila Scott

Dear Z,

Thank you for your important question.

The Care Quality Commission defines personal care as:

“The regulated activity of personal care consists of the provision of personal care for people who are unable to provide it for themselves, because of old age, illness or disability, and which is provided to them in the place where those people are living at the time when the care is provided. As an example, this includes personal care provided by a domiciliary care agency. It also includes Shared Lives schemes”.

https://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/ra_1_personal_care.pdf

Personal care includes assistance with washing, dressing, and other personal needs including continence and assistance with eating and drinking.

Nursing care is provided either by or under the supervision of qualified nurses.

Tasks are identified by a nursing needs assessment as those that need to be carried out or supervised by a qualified nurse – injections, dressings and other invasive treatments as well as the other skills of a qualified nurse.

The term Registered Nurse can only be used by people who are qualified and registered to do so.

There are healthcare and nursing assistants but they work under the supervision of a qualified nurse.

I hope that this is helpful.

Sheila