How can you arrange for a nurse to visit a parent at home in Lagos from abroad? The routes compared

What are the ways to get a nurse to a parent's home in Lagos?

There are three main routes: a registered home-care provider, a nurse you engage directly, or an organised visiting service that sends nurses and reports back.

In Lagos, the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA) registers "Home Care Services" as a category of its own, defined as the provision of health care services in the home of the patient, especially for patients who are chronically ill, elderly or disabled.

A nurse engaged directly is checked by you rather than by an organisation, so the licence check below matters more. A carer or house help is a different role from a registered nurse; HEFAMAA lists nurse aides separately from registered nurses in its staffing requirements.

If the hospital that treats your parent offers home visits, the same questions on this page apply.

What does HEFAMAA require of a home-care provider?

HEFAMAA's minimum requirements for Home Care Services include a registered nurse, nurse aides, a supervisory medical practitioner and an ambulance.

The agency also lists an emergency kit and basic diagnostic facilities, and says the provider must keep good communication with the patient's hospital. Its fee schedule shows registration for Home Care Services at ₦75,000 and renewal at ₦50,000, checked November 2026.

In February 2026 HEFAMAA told residents that approved facilities can be identified by the official logo and QR code, and urged facility managers to display their registration certificates where patients can see them.

• Emergency kit: portable oxygen with a delivery gauge, oxygen tubing and mask, a portable suction machine, a bag-valve resuscitator, emergency drugs, wound dressings and delivery packs.
• Basic diagnostics: routine urine, blood and stool tests.
• An ambulance.
• Staff: a registered nurse, nurse aides and a supervisory medical practitioner.
• Optional services HEFAMAA lists: laundry and feeding.

How do you check a nurse is licensed in Nigeria?

Ask to see the nurse's current practising licence from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN); licences are renewable every three years.

The NMCN cites section 5 of the amended Decree 54 of 1988, which says no nurse shall be allowed to practise in any year unless they have paid the licensing fee. Renewal requires proof of attendance at the Council's Mandatory Continuing Professional Development Programme.

We found no free online public register on the NMCN website in November 2026. The Council's verification of certificates is a formal, paid application with supporting documents, described as a service to boards and organisations in and outside Nigeria. If something does not look right, the NMCN lists info@nmcn.gov.ng and (234) 702-923-4588 as its contacts.

Complaints of professional misconduct against a nurse or midwife go to the Director of Nursing Services at the Ministry of Health of the state where it happened, according to the NMCN.

How do the routes compare?

The routes differ most in who checks the nurse, how the family hears what happened, and whether the visits are clinical care.

How do you pay a nurse in Lagos from abroad?

From 1 May 2026, the Central Bank of Nigeria directed that money sent to Nigeria through international money transfer operators is paid to the recipient in naira.

The circular, dated 24 March 2026, also requires operators to price transactions against real-time BMatch rates. A nurse or provider paid through an international money transfer therefore receives naira. Our guide to sending money to Nigeria for healthcare covers the costs of transfers.

What should you sort out before the first visit?

Settle the checks, the scope of each visit, the reporting and the emergency plan before anyone arrives, so your parent and the nurse know what to expect.

• Ask a provider for its HEFAMAA registration certificate and look for the HEFAMAA logo and QR code.
• Ask the nurse for their current NMCN practising licence and note when it was renewed.
• Ask a provider who its supervising doctor is.
• Write down what each visit will include, such as blood pressure, medicines or wound care.
• Agree how you will hear after each visit: a written report, a call or a message.
• Give the nurse a list of your parent's conditions, medicines, doctor and hospital.
• Agree what the nurse does in an emergency: 112 nationally, or 767 and 112 in Lagos.
• Agree the fee in naira, how it is paid and how receipts are sent.
• Agree what happens if a visit is missed or the nurse changes.
• Tell your parent the nurse's name, and when they will arrive.

Where does Kinship fit?

Kinship Visits are care visits at home in Lagos by qualified nurses, with the same nurse each visit and a written report to the family after every visit.

Whichever route you choose, the checks above apply, and our page on questions to ask any care provider in Nigeria has more to ask before you agree.

Questions people ask

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• Questions to ask any care provider in Nigeria