Patient-Centered Foot Care for Veterans Receiving Dialysis
Optimizing Education and Assessment
Cheryl Berman, BS, RD, LMNT, EMT, CDE, CPT, CMC; Tracy Meling, RN, BSN, MAJ, ANC, USAR; Sharon Watts, DNP, RN-C, CDE; and Desiree Kochen, MHA
Ms. Berman is a diabetes specialist and case manager at the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Healthcare System (VA NWIHCS) in Omaha, Nebraska; Ms. Meling is an emergency department staff nurse at the VA NWIHCS and a Major in the U.S. Army Reserve Nurse Corp; Ms. Watts is an enocrinology nurse practitioner at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center in Ohio; and Ms. Kochen is the program support assistant in the dialysis unit at the VA NWIHCS. For more information on this study, e-mail cheryl.berman@hotmail.com
A quality improvement project at this VA dialysis unit produced a startling reduction in the incidence of infection and nontraumatic amputation.