By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
A Hays nurse practitioner is opening a clinic to help people with foot care.
A year ago, Kansas passed legislation that now allows nurse practitioners to provide health care without having a cooperative agreement with a doctor.
This has opened opportunities for nurse practitioners such as Babe Breit to offer additional services in their communities.
Breit, APRN-BC, MSN-FNP, has extensive experience in health care and wound care. She has been a nurse practitioner since 2001. She is certified by the American Nurses Certification Center.
Her experience includes family practice, radiation oncology, chronic wound care and rheumatology. She currently works with Centurion providing correctional care for the Kansas Department of Corrections for urgent, chronic and acute care for various conditions. This work is separate from her clinic.
Her new clinic Breit Advanced Practice Clinic, will offer a variety of foot care services.
These include nail trimming and removal, thinning of calluses, treatment for fungal nails and treatment of ingrown or infected nails.
In her medical experience, Breit said she has found some people can't properly care for their feet. This can become an issue for the elderly or clients who have mobility issues.
Other clients may not have the dexterity in their hands to deal with nails that are thick or become ingrown or curled.
People who have diabetes or vascular disease can have serious complications from foot issues.
A simple callous, corn, ingrown nail or blister from improperly fitted footwear can lead to wounds, which left untreated, can ultimately lead to a bone infection or an amputation, Breit said in her clinic brochure.
Diabetics can develop peripheral neuropathy and lose feeling in their feet. They may not realize they have an injury to their foot until they have developed a serious infection, she said.
"If you are unable to feel your feet and if you are not capable or able to look at your feet every day once or twice a day, you can wind up with an injury that leads to an infection," she said.
"What I would like to do is try to prevent that from occurring," she said.
Prevention of foot infections through regular foot care is much less expensive and time-consuming, she said.
People whose work requires them to stand all day, especially on hard surfaces, can develop very thick callouses on their feet. She said it can be like having a rock in your shoe all of the time.
Over time people can have tissue damage that can lead to ulceration and an infection.
Thick callouses also can result in fissures and cracks that can be painful.
Breit can thin those callouses with instruments that have been cleaned and chemically sanitized in an autoclave to Centers for Disease Control standards.
"They are quite painful," Breit said of foot callouses. "I just want to make people feel better."
Breit is also licensed to offer other types of general medical care.
Although Hays is served by a podiatrist, Breit said she is offering in-home care.
Breit will not have a brick-and-mortar office. She will provide all of her care at the homes of her clients. She said she also is willing to provide services to clients in nursing care or assisted living. There will be no additional cost for the home visits within Hays. Outside of Hays, standard mileage will apply.
The clinic only accepts private pay for services. Some services may be reimbursed by insurance depending on the carrier, service and condition being treated. Clients must submit the bills to insurance themselves.
The cost is $150 per visit for new patients and $100 per visit for established patients. Ingrown nail treatments cost $225. Nail removals cost $250.
Breit's hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursdays through Saturdays. You can make an appointment by calling or texting 785-656-6363.
You also can follow the clinic on Facebook.
Breit is married and has one adult son. She is involved in her church and likes to work out at the Hays Recreation Center.