President's Message

Recently nurses have been standing proud in support of their honorable career. Kelley Johnson, RN also known as Miss Colorado performed a monologue about being a nurse for the talent portion of the Miss America pageant. The next day her performance was ridiculed on The View. The negative statements made by several of the show hosts gave nurses a platform to support one another and to raise awareness about what it means to be a nurse. From the question from one of the hosts, “Why is she wearing a Doctor’s stethoscope?” a Facebook community was born, “Show Me Your Stethoscope.” This is a closed group where over 700,000 nurses were invited by other nurses to join and share pictures of their stethoscope. In my nursing roles, I don’t use a stethoscope on a regular basis. The pieces of equipment that I do use regularly include:

• a disposable wound measurement device
• a stoma measuring guide
• a one or two piece ostomy pouching system
• moisture barriers
• and adult absorbent products

Did you know the nursing profession is listed among the top ten of most prestigious professions? Nursing has been included in the top ten most admired professions for a number of years. I admire Kelley Johnson for sharing how she made a positive impact on her patient by being just a NURSE. I bet each nurse has a similar story, I know I have several. The patients and/or residents that nurses interact with on a daily basis rely on our professionalism and part of that professionalism includes maintaining our licensure and our specialty certifications. After hours of study and hands-on care of patients with chronic wounds, treating patients with new ostomies or ostomates having issues with achieving desired pouch wear time. And also working with patients experiencing urinary and fecal incontinence all of this went into achieving my personal and professional goals of becoming a Certified Wound Ostomy Continence Nurse (CWOCN).

I take pride in using my credentials of CWOCN, CFCN and plan to do whatever is needed to keep these credentials. I hope each nurse certified by the WOCNCB shares my level of pride in their credentials. I also hope each certified nurse will work just as hard to maintain each scope of their specialty certification. WOCNCB allows you to renew your certification by submitting a PGP or by exams. You may learn more about the PGP later in this issue in the Helping Hands section.

- Laurie Ellefson, BSN, RN, CWOCN, CFCN

LifeLINK

Board Member, Chenel Trevellini, MSN, RN, CWOCN, recently contributed a featured article titled Operationalizing the ANA CAUTI prevention tool in acute-care settings in the September issue of American Nurse Today!

We are incredibly proud of Chenel for lending her time and expertise to such an important subject matter within the realm of acute-care. We hope that you will take the time to share this article within your own social media platforms using the featured links.

Do you have some exciting news within the field to share? Let the WOCNCB staff know!

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Awards Spotlight

 WOCNCB® would like to recognize our certificants for their accomplishments! This section is dedicated to highlighting the successes of our incredible nurses!

If you have an achievement that you are especially proud of, or if you know a colleague who does, let us know! 

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Certifiable Faces

WOCNCB® is thankful for all those who donate their time to committee service. There are so many that contribute to the success of this organization. We invite you to view the names below of those whose passion and expertise allow us to provide the highest level of certification excellence we can.

Ad Hoc Exam Prep Committee

Diane E. Bryant, MSN, RN, CWOCN (Chair)
Catherine Clarey-Sanford, MSN RN CWOCN
Erica Van Gemeren Thibault, MS RN CWON
Judith C. Landis-Erdman, BSN RN CWOCN
Rhonda S. Sullivan, BS RN CWON
Angela Richardson, BSN RN CWOCN
Christen Ashley McClure, MSN RN CWOCN CFCN
Sharon B. Osgood, BSN RN CWOCN

Advanced Practice Committee

Christine T. Berke, MSN APRN-NP CWOCN-AP ANP-BC (Chair)
Reba J. Giles, MSN FNP-BC CWOCN-AP (Chair-Elect)
(Opal) Kathy Porras  RN, MSN, APRN-BC, CWON-AP, CCCN
Traci Tillery, FNP-BC, MSN, CWCN-AP, COCN, CWS, CFCN
Mary V. Cabral, MSN RNP CWOCN-AP
Kathleen K. Judge, MSN NP CWON-AP CCCN
Melisa R. Tiffany, MSN CNS CWOCN-AP

Credential Review Committee

Andrea Montgomery-Kylie, BScN, RN, CWCN, COCN
Linda S. McKenna, BSN RN CWOCN
Lois Fink, WOCNCB Public Member
Kathryn Khandaker, MSN RN CWOCN CNP
Lee Ann Bartz, RN, BS, CWOCN
Janet Stoia-Davis, RN CWOCN

 WOCN Exam Committee

Kathryn Khandaker, MSN RN CWOCN CNP (Chair)
Lee Ann Bartz, BS, RN, CWOCN
B. Yvonne Fankhanel, BSN RN CWOCN
Linda Berti-Hearn, MSN RN CWOCN
Patricia A. Lipschultz, BSN RN CWOCN
Beth L. Williams , BSN RN CWON
Allyson S. Uhlman, BSN, RN, CWOCN
Melayne P. Martin, BSN RN CWOCN
Cherry Norfleet, BSN RN CWOCN
Lauri Ann Fowler, MSN RN CWOCN

Foot Care Exam Committee

Kathleen B. Hoffman, MSN, RN, CWCN, COCN, CCCN, CFCN (Chair)
Frances L. Wilson, CNS, MSN, CWOCN, CFCN
Julie Yerke, RN, CFCN
Margaret M. Gerlach, RN CWOCN CFCN
Tina McDonald, CWOCN CFCN
Patsy E. Martinsek, BSN RN CWOCN CFCN

Item Review Committee (IRC)

Lisa Z. Hill, MSN RN CWOCN
Timothy Porter O'Grady, DM EdD APRN CWCN CFCN FAAN
Connie L. Blazek, BS RN CWON
Cathy Wogamon, MSN, RN, CWCN
Stacy H. Schoenbach, MS, RN, CWOCN
Renee J. Gleitz, MSN RN CNP CWOCN
Dona Isaac, MSN/Ed RN CWCN COCN
Jodi Becker, MSN RN CGRN CWOCN

Marketing Committee

Heather McEntarffer, BSN, RN, CWOCN (Chair)
Jessica Simmons, BSN, RN, CWCN, COCN
Sue A. Gluek, CWON
Gaylene Montez, RN, CWOCN, CFCN
Justine Marie Hein, BSN, RN, CWOCN, CFCN

PGP Committee

Linda S. McKenna, BSN RN CWOCN (Chair)
Janet Stoia-Davis, RN CWOCN
Sarah E. Lebovits, MSN RN ANP-BC CWOCN DAPWCA
Elizabeth S. Jones, BSN RN CWOCN CFCN
Laurie A. Bailey, BSN RN CWOCN
Pamela A. Wilson, MSN Ed RN CWOCN
 

Public Policy Committee

Melissa Stolley, BA BSN RN CWOCN
Linda R. Droste, MSN RN CWOCN
Deborah K. Fulmer, MSN RN CWOCN

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Helping Hands

PGP Webinar
Is it time for you, or a friend/colleague to recertify? If so, the PGP Webinar is may be a very helpful resource!

The PGP Webinar is available any time to assist in easily acclimating certificants with this recertifcation process!

To view this webinar, simply click here or on the featured image.
 

Certifiable Style
You’ve earned it, now you can proudly display your certification achievement(s) with WOCNCB® licensed apparel and accessoriesVisit http://www.wocncb.org/about-us/merchandise to view the entire collection!

Flash Cards are available
Be Better Prepared to Pass the Wound & Ostomy Care Exams - Study with the OFFICIAL WOCNCB Flash Card Sets! Each set is only $44.95 and contains just over 200 questions developed from the Ostomy Exam Content Outline.

Click the following to place your order

- Wound Care Flash Card Set
- Ostomy Care Flash Card Set

Wound Treatment Associate Certification (WTA-C)
REMINDER: Registration is now open for the WTA-C exam. Testing begins in November, encourage a peer to sign up today!! Visit the Wound Treatment Associate page!

Special Introductory Offer - $100 Rebate (expires 2/29/16)

Do we have your most recent contact information?
We know that alot can happen in five years. We also want to hear from you and make sure we stay up date! Email us and let us know of any changes to your membership information, and we will be happy to make the update for you! 

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If you aren't already, you can get certifiably social with WOCNCB® to stay alert of what's going on with The Gold Standard for Certification! 

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