It’s easy to take your feet for granted — you’ve been walking on them your entire life.
But underlying or untreated medical problems with them could be affecting other parts of your body and putting you at risk for other problems, said Kate Clayton-Jones, a certified foot care nurse and the owner of FootCare By Nurses, LLC, a new foot-care nurse staffing agency based French King
Highway in Greenfield.
The new business offers a full-spectrum of foot care services, especially for older people, and visits senior centers and makes house calls throughout Hampshire and Franklin counties.
While working in nursing homes as a nurse’s aide as she pursued a nursing degree, Clayton-Jones noticed that there seemed to be a lack of attention being paid to the foot health of the residents.
“They had their nails trimmed, but there’s a lot more to foot health like skin care, massage, making sure shoes and socks fit properly,” she said. “It all seemed to be being bypassed.”
When she graduated from nursing school, she sought out a professional foot care nurse to train her further on that aspect of health care. She went on to become nationally certified.
Soon after, Clayton-Jones teamed up with two other foot-care nurses and formed a practice FootCare By Nurses.
But when one of them unexpectedly died, Clayton-Jones turned the collaborative into a staffing agency business with the help of the Franklin County Community Development Corporation and Valley Venture Mentors — a Springfield-based entrepreneurial training program. She soon realized she’d need more help.
Now, the agency has eight employees, including an operations director and other nurses.
Clayton-Jones said her nurses, through the clinic and in individual settings, are able to spend more time with each client than is typically provided in a doctor’s office.
The agency’s nurses take care of common foot problems like corns, calluses, fungal infections and nail problems, and they educate clients on proper footwear, socks, skin care products and other aspects of foot health.
Clayton-Jones said foot problems can compound or create other health problems throughout the body.
Failure to take care of one’s feet, she said, markedly increases the risk of falling down — one of the top risk factor for injury among seniors.
Diabetic neuropathy is also connected to foot care, she said.
But with the help of her corps of nurses and a new home base, she hopes to treat those ailments, one pair of feet at a time.
“I can’t tell you how many people have stood up from our chairs and said ‘I feel like dancing, I haven’t felt like dancing in over 30 years!’” she said.
For more information visit footcarebynurses.net or call 367-8369.