Hospice Caregiver Support in Southwest Florida
Hospice nurses and aides visit, but they don't stay. A private caregiver can fill the hours in between with personal care, comfort, and a calm presence at the bedside. Abby Services, a Florida-licensed nurse registry, connects families in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, and across Southwest Florida with screened caregivers who supplement hospice care.
Reviewed by Scott Strachan, RN BSN · Updated October 2026
Get started your way
Call 239-590-0861Office hours Mon–Fri, 8am–4pm. On call 24/7 for urgent needs.Tell us what you needA short online form. We follow up with options and pricing. No obligation.Have us call youPick a time. We call during business hours.- 1We talk through your needs. A free conversation about your loved one, the schedule, and location.
- 2You review pricing and sign online. No office visit or in-home sales call needed.
- 3We match caregivers to your needs. You and your caregiver set the schedule, and you can request a different caregiver anytime.
- Serving families since 1997
- RN-owned, local team
- AHCA-licensed nurse registry
- Level 2 background-screened caregivers
Did you know?
Families have left Abby Services more Google reviews than almost any other in-home care service in Fort Myers and Cape Coral.
Get started your way
Call 239-590-0861Office hours Mon–Fri, 8am–4pm. On call 24/7 for urgent needs.Tell us what you needA short online form. We follow up with options and pricing. No obligation.Have us call youPick a time. We call during business hours.- 1We talk through your needs. A free conversation about your loved one, the schedule, and location.
- 2You review pricing and sign online. No office visit or in-home sales call needed.
- 3We match caregivers to your needs. You and your caregiver set the schedule, and you can request a different caregiver anytime.
We've worked both sides of hospice care
Our owner, Scott, worked on a hospice unit as a registered nurse and spent years as an oncology nurse — and he's also worked as a private caregiver himself. He's been part of the clinical team that visits, and he's been the person who stays. That's exactly the difference families need to understand: hospice is a tremendous gift — expert nurses, aides, chaplains, and social workers focused on comfort — but hospice is a visiting service. The team comes for appointments and is on call for crises, while the long hours in between fall to family.
Your caregiver can supplement the services hospice provides: staying through the night, helping with personal care between aide visits, preparing meals, and giving exhausted family members permission to rest — or simply to sit and be family instead of caregivers. Hospice does not cover or pay for private caregivers; this is support families arrange alongside it, and many tell us it made all the difference.
How Caregivers Help Alongside Hospice
Working with — never replacing — the hospice team, caregivers help with:
Signs It May Be Time for Extra Support
Hospice families rarely ask for help soon enough. It may be time to add a private caregiver if:
- Family members are taking visits and running on empty
- Nights have become the hardest part — no one is sleeping
- The hospice team has suggested more support at home
- Personal care needs exceed what family can comfortably provide
- Out-of-town family can't be there as much as they want
- You want your remaining time to be spent as family, not only as caregivers
If any of this sounds familiar, our team is happy to help — quickly, and with the gentleness this time deserves.
“Denise has been caring for my mother for a few years now. Her care, patience and compassion has truly made her an extended part of our family… It is good to know she is there caring for my mother when we live so far away.”
How it works
Getting started is simple, and there's never any pressure.
Call us
Tell us about your loved one and what's going on. The consultation is free.
Talk through your needs
Our RN is available to help you identify the type of support your loved one needs — you decide what to request.
Meet your caregiver
We refer screened, credentialed caregivers who align with your requests. You choose the fit.
Stay in control
Adjust hours and direction anytime as needs change. You're always in charge.
Paying for Hospice Caregiver Support
Cost is one of the first questions families ask. Here are the most common ways our clients pay for care:
Private pay
The most common option — pay only for the hours you actually need, and scale up or down anytime.
Long-term care insurance
Many policies cover in-home care. We help you make sense of the paperwork. Learn about LTC insurance →
Veterans' benefits
Veterans and surviving spouses may qualify for aid that helps offset the cost of in-home care.
What does a private caregiver alongside hospice cost?
Typical 2026 totals families in Lee, Collier, and Charlotte Counties see, including the caregiver's fee and our registry fee. Many hospice families arrange overnight or around-the-clock visits in the final weeks so no one is alone. The hospice benefit does not usually cover a private caregiver, so most families pay privately or use long-term care insurance.
Short visits
$100–$150per visit
1–3 hours · one hour is about $100
Part-day
$40–$45per hour
4–6 hours
Best value
Extended visits
$30–$35per hour
6–12 hours
Around-the-clock
$24–$30per hour
24/7 coverage
Live-in
$350–$450per day
With rest and sleep periods
Ranges are for information only. Your cost depends on the caregiver you choose and the schedule you need, and we'll review it with you before care begins.
See the full cost guide →Hospice Caregiver Support Near You
We refer caregivers who supplement hospice care throughout Lee, Collier, and Charlotte Counties. Communities with their own hospice caregiver support page are highlighted, and every other community has a local area guide.
Prefer We Call You?
Leave your number and the best time to reach you. We'll call during business hours, Monday through Friday, 8am to 4pm, to talk through caregiver support alongside hospice. Need help sooner? Call 239-590-0861.
Hospice Support Questions, Answered
No — hospice is primarily a Medicare benefit, and it covers the hospice team's services: the visiting nurses, aides, chaplains, and social workers. It does not pay for private caregivers or continuous presence in the home. Families arrange and pay for supplemental caregivers separately — through private pay, long-term care insurance, or veterans' benefits. We're upfront about this so there are no surprises.
Yes — though it's worth understanding how the pieces fit: the family is ultimately responsible for orchestrating and directing their care team, and your caregiver works alongside hospice at your direction, following the comfort measures the hospice team has shown. Having worked hospice as both a nurse and a caregiver, our owner knows both roles firsthand — and hospice nurses genuinely welcome a consistent caregiver in the home: someone there to notice changes and call them when it matters.
Yes. Many families arrange around-the-clock coverage as needs intensify — caregivers taking turns so someone is always awake and present. If you're already working with us, scaling up can happen quickly. Our flexibility is why this works for so many families: some services require two weeks' notice and a two-week deposit — not Abby. You can adjust or cancel care anytime (most caregivers simply ask for 24 hours' notice), and in most cases, no deposit is required.
We understand — and hospice situations move to the front of the line. Call us, tell us what's happening, and we'll prioritize your search. In urgent situations, care can be arranged in as little as an hour. That said, we encourage families to make arrangements in advance whenever possible — in our experience, the biggest delay isn't finding a caregiver, it's completing the basic paperwork and payment details. Getting those in place early means help can start the moment you need it.
We're a matchmaking service, and we like to say you don't marry the first person you go on a date with. While we work hard to find the best fit the first time, that isn't always possible — you can request a different caregiver at any time, no hard feelings, no hassle. The right personality match matters, and your feedback helps us identify better candidates for you. We'll keep working with you until you find the right fit.