President's Message
Nurses are an integral part of our exceedingly complex health care system and many play a key role in quality improvement initiatives around the country. Recently, I attended the CMS QualityNet Conference in Baltimore, where Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) professionals gathered to share their ideas and successes in improving the "effectiveness, efficiency, economy, and quality of services delivered to Medicare beneficiaries." (CMS: https://www.cms.gov/QualityImprovementOrgs/01_Overview.asp#TopOfPage)
With great pride, I sat in a session and listened to a CWOCN present her study that identified problems with pressure ulcer staging in the Long Term Care (LTC) facilities in her state. Her study was the first step in developing a plan to improve care of patients in LTC facilities with pressure ulcers. She illustrated to me that WOCNCB certified nurses are on the cutting edge everywhere and are a positive force for change in our health care system. On behalf of you, the nurses certified by the WOCNCB, I humbly thanked her for making a difference.
Growing numbers of WOCNCB certified nurses are making a difference as WOC advanced practice certified nurses in primary care, outpatient centers and specialty practices. The WOCNCB has long been aware of the growing number of advanced practice nurses in our ranks and responded in 2006 by offering the advanced practice (AP) credential. To be awarded the AP credential, candidates were required to present to the WOCNCB a comprehensive portfolio that demonstrated advanced practice in multiple professional areas such as continuing education, special projects, professional education, application of research to practice and publication.
Beginning June 2012, the WOCNCB will offer AP credentialing by examination. The three examinations will specifically measure WOC nursing knowledge in the expanded role of the advanced practice nurse. Candidates will need to demonstrate entry level understanding of WOC nursing and reflect their advanced specialty practice by interpreting broader systemic conditions, applying advanced knowledge of pharmacology and pathophysiology, critically evaluating diagnostic testing and integrating data into a diagnosis and treatment plan.
The WOCNCB thanks the dedicated advanced practice nurses who have served on our Advanced Practice Examination Committee for the hours of work they have put in to develop, in collaboration with our testing partner, psychometrically sound and legally defensible AP certification examinations in wound, ostomy and continence nursing. With the premier of the AP examinations, the portfolio will no longer be a route to initial certification, but will be used as a professional growth portfolio (PGP) for recertification. Please click here for more details about WOCNCB AP certification.
In order to keep our path straight and to ensure that we are part of the solution in this complex health care arena, your board will be engaging in strategic planning this spring. It is a time where we examine where we have been and where we are going. We will look at new ways to fulfill our mission, which is to promote the highest standard of consumer care and safety by providing credentialing in the areas of wound, ostomy, continence and foot care nursing.
Your board is here for you. If you have any ideas or want to share with us your vision for WOCNCB certified nurses, send us those thoughts and ideas.
Donna L. Thompson, MSN, CRNP, FNP-BC, CCCN
WOCNCB President
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