Certification for Foot Care Nurses

The Mission of the Canadian Association of Foot Care Nurses is to advance the practice of foot care through a collaborative and networking process for all individuals providing foot care. One of the four goals of CAFCN is to “develop educational opportunities, national guidelines, and a certification process for nursing foot care.” In 2017, CAFCN published The National Competencies for Advanced Foot Care Nursing in Canada and are available in both English and French. These documents currently help to inform clinical foot care nursing practice.

CAFCN recognizes that developing a certification process for foot care nursing requires time to complete. CAFCN continues to work towards a certification process.

Regarding foot care nursing education, CAFCN does not endorse any particular nursing foot care course and has no influence over curriculum or learning outcomes of individual foot care courses. When searching out nursing foot care opportunities, it is the responsibility of each individual nurse to chose a program that best suits their educational needs. For more information about available foot care courses in your area, please contact one of our advisors.

CAFCN recommends that regardless of which foot care nursing course you have taken or will take, that all foot care nurses make ongoing learning activities a part of their nursing practice. It is important to maintain records of learning activities as regulatory bodies often require proof.

FAQ’s about Certification for Foot Care Nurses

(Click on the question to see the answer)

No. What you received from taking a foot care course would have been a Certificate of Completion of the particular course that you took and from the particular institution that offered the course.

Currently there is no certification process for nursing foot care in Canada. However, developing the certification process for Canadian foot care nurses is a goal for CAFCN. We will continue to work on this process.

Follow the standards, policies and ethical values of your provincial nursing governing body.

ALL NURSES are expected to remain up to date in their practice in any area that they work.

All nursing governing bodies have annual requirements to demonstrate that your education and learning is a continuous process. We strongly advise that you regularly seek out, participate in and document educational opportunities that are pertinent to your nursing practice. This can mean attending relevant conferences, workshops, and interest, study or journal groups. This can mean on–line education through educational institutions or self-directed learning. Internet access for those in remote locations can help to remove travel barriers and for that reason we have a page on this site that is devoted to resources for foot care providers.

No. Certification is voluntary but it may become a requirement for some positions by the employer in the future.

No. Certification is voluntary. However, you must still maintain the same responsibilities to your nursing governing body and your clients to maintain up to date standards and continuous learning that you do now. (See “What can I do now if I can’t become certified?”)

This is a US organization and is not a certification recognized in Canada. However, additional certifications are never a bad idea when continuing your education.

Please Note

CAFCN does not endorse any educational program or have influence over curriculum, course material, educational outcomes.