Wamego Health Center now offers Wound Care

We’re welcoming wound care to Wamego Health Center!

Meet Teresa Jeanneret, RN, and Kathryn Bruning, FNP-C. They serve as the outpatient team now treating all types of advanced wounds from diabetes, as well as burns, different types of ulcers, trauma wounds, surgical wounds, vasculitis and hard-to-heal-wounds. Call 785-458-7234 to schedule with the team! 

Teresa Jeanneret, RN: 

What do you love about serving patients in Wamego?
The people in this community are some of the kindest and most appreciative patients I’ve ever cared for. And since I have lived here and worked here more than 20 years, I have a deep sense of commitment to providing excellent care to my neighbors, friends and family.
Why do you love being at Wamego Health Center?
I have worked at this hospital for the past 24 years. I feel like I’ve grown up in this place. When you go through all your major life events together (getting married, having babies, and now my babies are getting married and having babies!), you form some pretty close ties with the people you spend 40 hours a week with! Even though a lot of the co-workers have changed over the years, I still hear a lot of the new people saying “It feels like family here”, and I could not agree more.
What do you want patients to know about you?
I graduated from St. Johns School of Nursing in Springfield, Missouri, in 1992. My first job as a registered nurse was in San Antonio, Texas. I was there for a couple of years then moved back to Wamego and worked at St. Francis Hospital in Topeka for six years. Then, I started working at Wamego Health Center, where I have been for almost 24 years now. I have worked in Medical/Surgical, Oncology and Emergency Care. I have also taken on the roles of pharmacy nurse, employee health nurse, and have helped with education in the Medical/Surgical dept. I am very excited about starting this next adventure in wound care. I love getting to be a part of the healing process and seeing the improvements at each visit.
What are some pieces of advice, tips or things you want patients to know about wound care?
Seek help early! Don’t wait! And if you are a diabetic or have decreased circulation or decreased sensation in your legs and/or feet, be sure to make it part of your daily routine to inspect the bottoms of your feet. Look for any new sores, blisters or discolored areas. Sometimes people with no feeling in their feet have no idea that their shoes are rubbing blisters on their feet, or that they have stepped on something and cut their foot. Which leads to the next piece of advice…If you do not have feeling in your feet, DON’T go barefoot!
Kat Bruning, FNP-C
What do you love about serving patients in Wamego?
I love serving patients in Wamego because this is my community. My husband and I have raised our children here for the past five years and we have absolutely loved living in this wonderful town and getting to experience its culture. Working in the community that you live in really adds a level of pride and ownership over what we do. These patients are ones we may see at church, at the park or at the local restaurants. The value in caring for those with whom you live is so great, it raises the bar and the level of expectation.
Why do you love being at Wamego Health Center?
WHC is such a wonderful place to work. The associates here are absolutely the best group of people I have ever had the pleasure of working with. It is rare in healthcare to meet people that have worked at one place for decades and I believe just about every department at WHC has this kind of longevity. I think that in itself proves that this is a wonderful place to work.
I love rural healthcare, the dynamics are so different from a big city hospital where everyone operates in silos, disconnected from one unit to the next. In a community access hospital, we have an opportunity to experience every patient scenario as a team, lending to our ability to care holistically for the patient and their family.
What do you want patients to know about you?
I have loved being a nurse for nine years while attaining my Family Nurse Practitioner degree, working seven years at Via Christi in Manhattan on the Surgical floor and then in the Float Pool, then the last two years working at WHC in the ER.
While pursuing my BSN, my capstone project was Ostomy Care, which introduced me to wounds. The option for wound care was given to me and I relished the opportunity as I find this area of healthcare fascinating and so fulfilling. These experiences have culminated to help me learn many facets of healthcare, which has equipped me for working as a Hospitalist and Wound Care Provider here at WHC.
What are some pieces of advice, tips or things you want patients to know about wound care?
I would say that wound care is an area of healthcare that gets a bad reputation, it is not all gangrene and maggots (did that gross you out enough???). But rather a very organized, clean process that is essentially taking products from nature (like collagen, honey, silver, algae and stem cells) and shaping them into viable wound care products that can help heal a patient from the inside out. Often, wounds are a result of a multitude of factors like poor circulation, diabetes or infections and if we can help patients combat these factors we can help them heal wounds that have plagued them for some time.