DOI: 10.1097/WON.0b013e318249f8b9
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PMID: 22415133
Issn Print: 1071-5754
Publication Date: 2012/03/01
The Certified Foot Care Nurse and the Importance of Comprehensive Foot Assessments
Diana Gallagher
+ Author Information
Author Information: Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurse, Washington Regional Medical Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Excerpt
Every nurse appreciates the value of a comprehensive nursing assessment. It confirms the information that the patient may have shared directly, as well as a wealth of findings the patient may not have shared or recognized as significant. A comprehensive assessment also provides the structure for the development of individualized plans of care. Failure to assess the feet is as serious an omission as overlooking any other body part or organ system. If the eyes are indeed the windows into the soul, then the feet are the doors that open into a wealth of patient information. No system works in isolation and each system impacts the body as a whole. Identification of abnormalities in the feet can reveal problems with the heart, liver, and kidneys, deficits in self-care, nutritional disorders, systemic diseases, infectious processes, and so much more.
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