Why Foot Care Training?
“My training stopped at the ankles,” she said.
My mother was an adult on-set diabetic. She was a cosmetologist and took care of her own feet, and I remember when she told me she was afraid to let anyone else touch them. When I asked her why, she said, “I’m afraid someone might cut me.” As a youngster that made perfect sense, but as an adult with extensive education in foot care and the conditions that affect our feet, her words take on much more meaning.
My business partner, Janet McCormick, and I both have immediate family members who have health conditions that directly affect the health of their feet and legs. Along with my mother, my brother is diabetic. Janet’s mother was also diabetic, as well as two sisters. Her brother-in-law recently was diagnosed with melanoma on the plantar surface of his foot. It was discovered on his very first dermatological scan—who knows how long it had been there! Both of us are passionate about getting more foot care information into the hands of those who need it the most: first contact and routine health care givers.
Who needs foot care training? Those who see patients! Whether you are a nurse, a medical assistant, a nursing assistant or a caregiver, you need to know about foot-specific conditions, diseases, disorders and the implications that chronic health conditions have on the lower limbs.
We surveyed 8 nursing textbooks. A couple of them devoted a few paragraphs to foot care…one had more: one and a half pages with pictures and all were anatomical in nature. None of them gave information about recognizing specific foot-related conditions. None of them offered nursing interventions. None of them gave treatments of any kind. This is a huge gap in nursing care training. One of the nurses that worked with us in the development of our RN course said, “Basically, my training stopped at the ankle.”
What can Prof-Ed offer? We promise you that our courses are thorough and tailored to your level of licensing. It will give you the knowledge you need to confidently assess your patients’ feet and integrate your findings in the context of their overall health. Your training in wound care will be extended to cover the special requirements of wound healing on the feet. Your new knowledge of how underlying chronic conditions can manifest in the feet will give you the early warning system you need to prevent loss of limbs…and lives. Join us in our quest to educate and inform medical providers, patients and their caregivers about the utter necessity of proper foot care.