Katrina Anica Cachuela-Acido
Philippine Women’s University, Philippines
Title: Emerging podiatry nurses in the Middle East
Biography
Biography: Katrina Anica Cachuela-Acido
Abstract
An advanced nursing profession is considered as a specialized skill and treatment in Nursing Foot Care. The Podiatry Nurse provides treatment to high-risk clients including the geriatric population, those with arthritis, autoimmune disease and diabetes. Many advanced foot care nurses fill the gap where a podiatrist may not be able to, the foot care nurse role is holistic in her assessment and treatment while utilizing best practice in foot care, infection control and assessment in the provision of safe care. The foot care nurse understands the importance of assessing the high-risk client diagnosed with diabetes and is practice using best practice in diabetic foot care assessment. Diabetes is not just a problem of Qatar it is a global epidemic impacting globally and currently over 415 million people around the world suffer from diabetes and unfortunately this number will be increasing, and it is predicted that in 2040 this number will be 642 million. In particular, the Middle East and North Africa is impacted very heavily with 35 million and is predicted that it will be doubled by 2040. Amputation is the 3rd most important complications associated with diabetes superior than kidney failure and after heart attack and stroke. One of the key features of podiatry nurses is to provide diabetic foot screen assessment, identify client at high risk for amputations as a result of diabetes. Also, they recognize that adequate timely foot care can help reduce the serious complications that often arise in clients with diabetes and how the high-risk client mobility can be enhanced through treatment of overgrown and ingrown nails that cause debilitating pain over time. And in Qatar, we are the only service provider of this kind, thus nationalities from other gulf regions are coming over to seek treatment with us. The role of nurses in the delivery of healthcare services is essential as they are involved throughout all the stages of our patients care and spend more time with patients other than any other member of the healthcare team.