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ABOUT US

'Assisting you to maintain your independence
by keeping your feet healthy and velvet'

Competence

Velvet Foot Care on Salt Spring Island BC is founded and operated by Cara Birkeland, RN, BSN, CFCS (UBC, CAFCN, AFCNA). She is a Registered Nurse, member of the Canadian Association of Foot Care Nurses, also certified by the American Foot Care Nurses Association, with the title Certified Foot Care Specialist (sometimes also called Podiatric Nurse).

She has been nursing since 1989, with the majority of her career working with the elderly from bedside care to health care management.

Cara is keen to continue her learning and determined to be informed about the latest innovations and discoveries in Foot Care.

She loves the contact with her clients and believes they deserve the best possible care.

Nurses are used to care for patients. They know a broad range of health conditions. Foot Care Nurses are required to have additional education and special training to help with Foot Care concerns.
 
They will assess and monitor foot health, keep medical records, will identify early problems, network with other health professionals and refer to them if necessary. 

Healthy feet are important to all aspects of our life, but it becomes increasingly important as we age.

We serve many elderly clients, but also younger people that have feet with complications that require special care, for example recovery from toe injuries.

Foot care is about healthy feet.  Prevention or early identification of complications is as important as treating health conditions.  

Many people choose Nursing Foot Care for this reason, sometimes only for checkups in certain intervals, while still looking after their own feet.

Doctors refer patients to us for foot care, but a referral is not necessary.

No. Professional Nursing Foot Care should not be a painful experience.

Quite the opposite - good Nursing Foot Care is a safe and soothing experience. Many clients are tempted to doze off during treatment.

Modern tools allow very accurate filing even of difficult nails, and a gently humming burr is making rough skin smooth again.

Sometimes some slight discomfort or a tickling sensation may occur. No medical treatment can guarantee that absolutely no pain is ever experienced, but any pain during Nursing Foot Care would be rare and exceptional.

Contact us for a question or how we may be able to help you with your concerns. 

Please see the List of Footcare Services here, or contact us for a question of how we may be able to help you with your foot health. 

Prices for treatments are listed here.

A description of what to expect at appointments can be found here.

Registered Nurses (RN, 4 yrs with Bachelors Degree) or Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN, 2 yrs training) need to be in good standing and require additional training for Foot Care in order to work in this capacity.

Verify the current annual licensing status of a RN or of a LPN at the British Columbia College of Nurses & Midwives (BCCNM).

Sometimes a Public Advisory is issued about unauthorized practice or disciplinary issues (see also Certification and Professional Standards).

The relevant organizations are the BC College of Nursing Professionals and the Canadian Association of Foot Care Nurses.

Additional certification is possible with the American Foot Care Nurses Association (AFCNA) as a Certified Foot Care Specialist (CFCS, sometimes also called Podiatric Nurse).  

Image of Cara Birkeland, Footcare Nurse, Salt Spring Island

Advanced Technology

At Velvet Foot Care, we use a top of the line European professional podiatry drill, which is designated for medical use.

Such electrical drills are rotary tools for specialized burs (files).  These are highly efficient and allow precise and safe work.  They are very silent.  

An LED light source is directly implemented at the hand piece, and allows for ideal work conditions even when room lighting during treatment at a client's home is not optimal.

Point suction at the end of the hand device protects both client and foot care nurse from nail and skin dust in the air (built in 'mini vacuum cleaner').

Velvet Foot Care uses Podiatry Burs made in Germany, which are only to be used by trained professionals.

Some have a fine diamond coating and are used to smoothen and clean nails or skin. They allow for very precise work such as cleaning out corners or removing unwanted materials.  They can also be used to clean heels and remove hard calluses.

There are many different types of Podiatry Bits for different applications, and to be used at different rotary speeds of the drill.  Applying the correct bur and using it well are both an art and a science!

Podiatry Bits need to be sterilized after use.  Velvet Foot Care sterilizes all tools separately as described here and uses individual sterile tools for each session and client.

Medical Charts are a systematic documentation of a single patient's medical history and care, across time, done separately by each particular type of health care professional.

Foot Care Nurses are regulated health care professionals.  They are required to have a Medical Chart for each client, where all assessments and treatments are documented at each session.

This will help with monitoring the progress of Foot Care over years, and it will help to detect early if anything unusual is happening with each client's health.

Medical Charts are medical records that will also be available to other health care professionals, for example if a nurse is referring a patient to see a doctor.  Medical Charts are confidential and patients have the right to see them.

There are efforts to make these charts digital, so health care professionals can easily access each other's medical charts for the same patient.  Velvet Foot Care's charts are computerized and encrypted according to applicable privacy and health standards.

Image of a Podiatry Drill used for Footcare, with a close-up of burs (bits)
Autoclave being filled with pouches containing footcare tools

Automated Sterilization Techniques

Velvet Foot Care uses a top of the line Autoclave that meets hospital and surgery criteria for sterilization of tools.

Every client is treated with a set of tools that had been sterilized for each session.

Using controlled steam conditions are the safest sterilization techniques and do not rely on harmful chemicals.

Please find more details about our safe Foot Care here 


Serving the area of:
Salt Spring Island, BC




Phone:
250-538-8180