This is not agency policy and it is not negotiable between you and the caregiver. It is Nevada regulation, and it is the source of most first-month friction — a family asks for something entirely reasonable-sounding and gets told no, with no explanation of why.
What a licensed Nevada caregiver can do
| Bathing, grooming, dressing and undressing | The core activities of daily living. NRS 449B.050 lists bathing, grooming, and dressing and undressing by name. |
|---|---|
| Help with using the bathroom | Listed in statute as assistance with “elimination of wastes from the body.” Includes transfers to and from the toilet and incontinence care. |
| Meal preparation and help eating | Preparing meals and assisting with eating are both enumerated services. |
| Laundry, cleaning and light housekeeping | Laundry and cleaning are named in statute. This is the “homemaker” side of the service. |
| Shopping and errands | Grocery shopping and essential errands are enumerated. |
| Transportation | Driving a client to appointments, the pharmacy or the store is permitted — but see the prohibited list on what the caregiver may not do once they arrive at a medical appointment. |
| Medication reminders | A caregiver may remind a client to take medication and hand them the container. Administering the medication is a different act and is prohibited. |
| Companionship and supervision | Presence, conversation, activity and safety supervision, including the “any other minor needs related to the maintenance of personal hygiene” catch-all. |
What a Nevada caregiver is not allowed to do
This list is not agency policy. It is Nevada regulation, and it is the part of the conversation that families almost never have before care starts — usually discovering it the first time they ask a caregiver to do something perfectly reasonable-sounding and get told no.
| Administering medication | Including inserting rectal suppositories, applying prescription topical lotions and putting in eye drops. Reminders are allowed; administration is not. |
|---|---|
| Giving injections | Injections of fluids into veins, muscles or skin are prohibited, with one narrow insulin exception described below. |
| Catheter insertion or irrigation | Inserting or irrigating a catheter is outside the license. |
| Irrigating any body cavity | Including ear irrigation, enemas and douches. |
| Prescription or sterile wound dressings | Applying a dressing that involves prescription medication or aseptic technique, including treatment of moderate or severe skin conditions. |
| Physical assessments | A personal care attendant does not assess a client clinically. |
| Specialized feeding techniques | Feeding help is permitted; specialized techniques for swallowing or aspiration risk are not. |
| Trimming or cutting toenails | This one surprises families. Nail care of this kind is prohibited in Nevada, and it is a common quiet violation. |
| Massage | Prohibited, as is providing specialized services to increase range of motion. |
| Acting as a medical go-between at appointments | Nevada specifically bars an attendant from accompanying a client to a physician’s office “to provide medical information to the physician … or to receive medical information from the physician.” Many agency websites advertise “accompaniment to medical appointments.” Driving is fine. Being the information conduit is not. |
| Anything the Nevada State Board of Nursing defines as skilled nursing | Except for services already within the scope of a certified nursing assistant. |
The narrow exceptions. With documented training and demonstrated competency — repeated annually and whenever the device changes — a Nevada attendant may check and record temperature, blood pressure, pulse, respiration or oxygen saturation; run or assist with a blood glucose test on an FDA-approved single-person home device; assist with or administer insulin through an FDA-approved auto-injection device, but only where a physician, PA or APRN has determined the client is stable and on a maintenance dose with no sliding scale; and weigh a client. The training must come from a physician, PA, licensed nurse, or for the glucose and insulin tasks a registered pharmacist. (NAC 449.39775)
The one that catches everyone: toenails. Trimming or cutting toenails is on the prohibited list. It sounds absurd until you consider diabetic foot care, and then it makes complete sense. Ask about a podiatrist, not about the caregiver.
The one that catches agencies: medical appointments. Nevada bars an attendant from accompanying a client to a physician's office to give the physician medical information about the client or to receive it from them. Driving there is fine. Being the person who reports the symptoms and brings home the plan is not. Plenty of agency websites advertise "accompaniment to medical appointments" without that distinction. If you need someone in the room taking notes, that is a family member, a geriatric care manager, or a nurse — not a personal care attendant.
Why the rules are drawn here
The license category is called an “Agency to Provide Personal Care Services in the Home” for a reason. It authorizes non-medical assistance with daily living. Nevada even requires the agency to hand you, in writing, a statement that managing medical and health conditions is not within the scope of its license if those conditions become unstable or unpredictable. If the person's needs have moved past that line, the answer is not a caregiver who bends the rules — it is home health, a private duty nurse, or a different setting.
What to do instead when the answer is no
| What you need | Who actually does it |
|---|---|
| Medication administered, not just reminded | A family member, a nurse, or home health if the person qualifies |
| Wound care with a prescription dressing | Home health nursing under a doctor's order |
| Toenail trimming | A podiatrist — often covered |
| Someone in the room at the doctor's appointment | Family, or a geriatric care manager |
| Physical therapy exercises | A therapist; a caregiver may encourage and remind, and should be briefed on the home program |
| Injections | Home health nursing, except the narrow insulin auto-injector case |
Home care vs home health, side by side.
Related
Common questions
Can a Nevada caregiver give medication?
No. Administering medication — including eye drops, prescription topical creams and suppositories — is prohibited. Reminders and handing over the container are permitted. Narrow exceptions exist for blood glucose testing and stable maintenance-dose insulin via an FDA-approved auto-injector, with documented training.
Can a Nevada caregiver cut toenails?
No. Trimming or cutting toenails is on the prohibited list, largely because of diabetic foot risk. Use a podiatrist.
Can a caregiver take my mother to the doctor?
They can drive her. Nevada specifically prohibits an attendant from accompanying a client to a physician's office to provide medical information to the physician or receive it from them, so they cannot be the person reporting symptoms or bringing home the plan.
Sources for this page
- NRS Chapter 449B — Agencies to Provide Personal Care Services and Related Entities — Nevada Legislature, 2025.
- NAC Chapter 449 — including NAC 449.396 to 449.3982 — Nevada Legislature, 2026.
- Agency to Provide Personal Care Services in the Home — Nevada Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance, 2026.
- Nevada public license search — health facilities — Nevada HCQC, 2026.
- Health Facility Complaints — Nevada HCQC, 2026.
- AB 519, Chapter 158, Statutes of Nevada 2025 — Nevada Legislature, 2025. Approved and effective May 30, 2025.
Reviewed by the Vegas Senior Advisor care team. Last updated November 11, 2026. Spot something wrong? Call (725) 465-8617 and we will correct it within one business day.
