My Education, Certification and Experience
- I grew up in Denmark and got my first exposure to the United States in 1976-77 when I was an exchange student and stayed with a family in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I ended up in Tucson in 1984.
- Completed High School in Denmark, 1979.
- Completed One-year tri-lingual Business College Degree in Danish, English, and German in Denmark, 1980.
- Completed Associates Degree in Accounting from Pima College, Tucson, Arizona, 1990.
- Completed Bachelors Degree in Nursing from the University of Arizona, 1996.
- Received initial nursing foot care training at Tucson Medical Center's Foot and Ankle Clinic, 1998-2000.
- Founder and sole proprietor of Healthy Feet are Happy Feet Nursing Foot Care Service, 2000 to present.
- Received permission from the Arizona State Board of Nursing to practice Nursing Foot Care in the State of Arizona in 2000.
- Received permission from the Arizona State Board of Nursing to continue using a scalpel for debridement of corns and calluses, as per prior certification from TMC's Foot and Ankle Clinic.
- Completed National Nursing Foot Care Certification through the WOC Nursing Certification Board, 2012.
- Hospital floor nurse at Northwest Hospital, Tucson, Arizona, and Tucson Medical Center, Tucson, Arizona, in Medical-Oncology, Orthopedics and Orthopedic Surgery, and Neurology and Neuro Surgery, 1996-2011.
- Floor nurse at In-Patient Hospice Unit at Tucson Medical Center (Peppi's House), 2011 to present.
Restrictions
Being a registered nurse with a bachelors degree, and not a nurse practitioner, doctor, or podiatrist, I have restrictions I must follow:
- I must stay within the scope of nursing and may do the following actual and preventive care: Assessment, actual nail and skin care, teaching, and documentation.
- I may not do wound care, write presctiptions, do x-rays, order lab work, or perform surgery.
- Whenever I find a condition during my client's assessment that puts the client at risk, but also falls outside the scope of nursing, I will inform the client to seek further evaluation and treatment by a doctor, podiatrist, certified pedorthist, etc.
Role of the Foot Care Nurse in the U.S. Health Care System
With an increasing elderly population in this country with visual problems, such as age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma, cognitive deficits, such as dementia and Alzheimer's, physical limitations reaching their feet due to stenosis in the back, hip and knee surgeries, or obesity, there is an ever increasing need for professional nail and skin care of their feet.
The need is also magnified by the fact that various diseases and medical conditons often make routine care of their nails and skin on their feet too difficult for the family or a beauty salon to handle safely.
The certified foot care nurse is a very nice alternative for professional, comprehensive, and preventive foot care of this population.
- Please review the sections on Foot Care Services Provided and Tools Used and Diabetic Foot Care and Teaching .
- You may review the following article: The Role of Certified Foot and Nail Care Nurses in the Prevention of Lower Extremity Amputation, in The Journal of Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing, May/June 2011, Volume 38, Number 3, Pages 242-251.
Hanne Owens, RN, BSN, CFCN
