Nurse Certification for Wound Ostomy

Ostomy Care Nursing is a growing profession in the nursing field as ostomies are being completed more often. Certification programs exist that give nurses an opportunity to further their education and become more specialized in the field in which they work. The Wound and Ostomy Care Nurse certification not only gives nurses the ability to treat ostomy patients, but also wounds and incontinence care.

Considerations

• Ostomy nurses deal with feces day in and day out. If this is bothersome for a nurse, it may not be a good decision to pursue ostomy certification. Another consideration is the fact that these nurses need to be able to "think outside the box." Most of the patients being taken care of have new ostomies, which can present a large number of difficulties, such as leakage, reaction to the adhesives used and excoriation of the skin due its being exposed to excrement. Teaching is another large part of an ostomy nurse's day. Being able to properly teach patients how to change their own dressing can be a daunting and intimidating task.

Education

• The Wound and Ostomy Care Nurse (WOCN) is the certification of choice by most facilities, and can be attained by Registered Nurses who hold a bachelor's degree. There are a list of programs accredited by the WOCN Certification Board that a nurse can complete to be eligible for the certification exam. Also, an experimental pathway can be selected instead of the classroom method. This can be attained by obtaining 50 contact hours in the field in which the nurse is being certified, and 1,500 clinical hours post nursing graduation. Of this total number of hours at least 375 of those hours must have occurred in the last year.

Exam

• Any registered nurse who holds a bachelor's degree is eligible to obtain their WOCN certification. The exam must be taken five years after successful completion of a selected WOCN education program.

Benefits of Certification

• "The Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nursing Certification Board (WOCNCB) began certifying nurses in 1978 as a way to recognize and differentiate the value of expert nurses from those at an entry level," according to the WOCNCB Web site. Becoming certified as a Wound and Ostomy Care Nurse ensures a nurse has been trained to the highest degree in wound and ostomy care, and makes her more marketable when she is looking for a new job.

Recertification

• There are two ways a nurse can become re-certified as a Wound and Ostomy Care Nurse. The first is to retake the certification exam. The second is to submit a portfolio of their professional development within the field of wound and ostomy care. These include presentations, publications and poster boards. No matter which path is chosen, re-certification must be completed every five years .