To any and all footcare nurse business owners

Nurses Entrepreneurs

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bizi

66 Posts

Great article and poems!

bizi

bizi

66 Posts

Wondering how owners are doing?

Same here.

bizi

yrmajesty3

59 Posts

Specializes in ICU/NICI/PICU/Pulmonary/GI.

Hi Bizi,

You may not be hearing from some owners because there have been podiatric lurkers who have used these forums to initiate investigations on some independent foot care nurses( approximately 5 that i know of). I was told this by a podiatrist friend. So for that reason, I no longer feel comfortable sharing unless its a PM. Hope all is well with you.....its been a long time since I've posted here.

NedRN

1 Article; 5,773 Posts

Can you tell us more? It is difficult for me to believe that allnurse lurkers would use this forum to initiate investigations to protect their own business model. Anyone with a successful business of any kind is easily found! If you can share the issues they are investigating, a constructive conversation should ensue.

yrmajesty3

59 Posts

Specializes in ICU/NICI/PICU/Pulmonary/GI.

I dont believe the lurkers are other nurses. My experience with other foot care nurses has been nothing but positive. In fact, all of us have willingly shared our business models, policy and procedures,forms that we independently develop, brochures and business contacts. It's a phenomenal community of professionals as we are all learning together. I've been told that the lurkers are podiatrists posing as nurses to get information, especially about policies, scope of practice and $$. This has happened on 2 other blogs I was a member of...both now defunct because of it. One podiatrist informed me that I was making more $ in a visit than she was being reimbursed by insurance company for the same care. She took MUCH issue with that which subsequently made her wonder what else was I doing to warrant my $75 fee. But then again, she doesn't do hour-long home visits like I did. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bitter, just wise to how others are getting information and thereby inadvertently sabotaging a practice by kicking off an investigation. Some see private duty foot care nurses as a threat/competition to their businesses. But others have genuine concerns that nurses might be practicing beyond their scope. But you are correct, this attitude tends to come from practices that are not thriving. Podiatry practices that don't offer surgical care are the ones that depend on routine diabetic foot care for their bread and butter. So you can see how a nursing foot care biz near them might be a problem. Where I live, there are an overabundance of podiatry practices all competing with one another for business and nursing home contracts. They tend to utilize podiatry school residents as their "help"...not independent nursing collegues. No reason for them to refer to you if they can keep that business under their own roof with free help. Places where these professionals aren't as abundant, seem to be the places that nurses do well...no competition. The important take-away is that foot care nurses are practicing well within their scope and we shouldn't let other foot care professionals tell us otherwise. If any of you should be investigated because of this suspicion (as so many of us have already), just know that all you need is to show good policy and procedure documents and proof that you have been appropriately trained to provide this specialized care. So far, that's all we have had to do in these cases.

I simply handed over a copy of my business binder. In that binder, I had proof of my training and CFCN certificate, P&P's for my care and sterilization procedures,MDF form for chemosterilant, examples of my assessment and consent forms, 5 or 6 simple nursing care plans for most common problems, patient education handouts, and several articles outlining the studies regarding value of nurse run foot care clinics. Hope that sheds some light on my particular experience.

NedRN

1 Article; 5,773 Posts

Sorry, I still don't believe that a local practitioner would lurk on a national forum to find local competitors in a subforum with very low traffic and screen names that usually do not identify a real name. That would be the same odds as a lightning strike, not impossible, but dumb odds.

It is much more likely that a local podiatrist with concerns about local competition investigates locally, and then Googles that practitioner to find online information, including social media. That is almost certainly what happened on those blogs you mention. Probably the blogs were personal to the person writing them and identified them clearly. I'd be interested to know why they might have been removed, but conspiracy theories about other sites are really off topic on this forum and people stop posting blog entries for all kinds of reasons.

Bottom line is there is no reason to fear posting on this forum. If something we propose are are doing is against regulations in some jurisdiction, I think we would all learn by freely posting that here.

sav3alif3RN

5 Posts

Hi yrmajesty3, Just read this thread and it's good to know others are joining this area of Nursing. I haven't been on in a while so I can't send you a private message due to the new policy on here. I have my own business and I'm doing well. Consequently, I need to get my policies written. I would love to get more insight from you on how you went about doing it. Can you PM me and then I can reply privately?

raenice4life

4 Posts

Specializes in Med/Surg.

Hello, I am a RN in NJ. I took a foot care training course at Emory University in January 2014, I would like to start my own foot care biz soon, do I have to take the exam to have my own independent business?

yrmajesty3

59 Posts

Specializes in ICU/NICI/PICU/Pulmonary/GI.

My understanding is NO, you do not have to take the test. Many practice without it. You do need to show that you have been trained though. Keep your curriculum materials to prove that you have this knowledge. I encourage you to take the exam though... it shows competency.

raenice4life

4 Posts

Specializes in Med/Surg.

Ok, thank you for the reply back.

RavinM

1 Post

This discussion is very interesting, My name is Ravin, Registered Practical Nurse from Canada. i am looking forward to start my own business as a Foot Care Nurse. please give me some suggestions and tips. i will join in advanced foot care course for nurses next month. but before i join i would like to know more about the scope for this business. i live in toronto, already poppulated with all healthcare professionals.. if anyone could guide me that will be more appreciated..

waiting for your comments. thanks

Are you still doing foot care in Idaho? Did the clinic ever work out? Interested in how it is going. Are you in Boise?

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