President's Message

Spring is in the air! Spring is the season of growth and renewal and here at the WOCNCB it is a busy time! If you attended the recent NPIAP conference I hope you were able to visit our booth and connect with us. We will be at many more conferences this year and we have a great session planned for WOCNext conference in Cleveland in June so we hope to see you there!

This year we are also celebrating 87 WOCNCB certified nurses who have reached their 30 year anniversary! What an accomplishment! I congratulate each of you and thank you for your years of hard work and dedication to improving the lives of the people we serve.

We are also celebrating Certified  Nurses Day this month and WOC Nurse Week is just around the corner in April. So let’s stop and take some time to celebrate each other and give each other a word of encouragement for the, often times, thankless job that we do. You truly do make a difference! Send in your photos for the photo contest and show us how you put your best foot forward in your practice. The deadline for submissions is quickly approaching on March 19th. We want to celebrate you! On that note, I want to thank the volunteers who recently provided their expertise and time to participate in the CFCN Job Task Analysis Committee in February. We depend on volunteers like you to assist us in maintaining the Gold Standard for Certification^® that we are so well known for and we couldn’t do it without you.

We, here at WOCNCB, are dedicated to you and are here to help and support you. If you have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We have many valuable resources on our website to assist you and if you are planning to recertify via the new and improved PGP program I encourage you to jump on one of the PGP office hours calls, the next one is on March 20th. Until next time, I hope you have a great spring!

Warm regards,

Clay Collins, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, CWOCN, CFCN
WOCNCB^® President

Spotlight!

Congratulations to these WOCNCB^® Certified Nurses for hitting the 30-year Continuous Certification Mark in 2024!

Congrats to Annielyn Azor-Ocampo, MSN, RN, CWOCN, DAPWCA!

Annielyn is a HX24 executive award winner recognized by Press Ganey as Front-Line Nurse of the Year! Read more about HX24 and the award winners. Watch Annielyn's acceptance speech!

Share your Accomplishments!

WOCNCB^® would like to recognize our certificants for their accomplishments! If you have an achievement that you are especially proud of, or if you know a colleague who does, let WOCNCB^® know! We are dedicated to highlighting the successes of our incredible nurses through social media, email updates and newsletters.

Did You Know?

Celebrate Certified Nurses Day™ March 19, 2024

Celebrate your achievement of certification! Click here to order from the new WOCNCB® Certified collection!

Enter the 2024 WOCNCB^® Photo Contest by March 19th!

As a WOCNCB^® Certified Nurse, how do you put your best foot forward in your practice?

It's easy! Simply complete our online submission form and upload a photo. Click here for details and the online form.

WOC Nurse Week is April 14-20, 2024!

Get ready for WOC Nurse Week! Thank you to all our certified nurses for all you are doing each and every day. We appreciate your dedication to patient care as leaders in your specialty! Download signs to promote being WOCNCB^® Certified during WOC Week and share your photos via social media  #wocncb #nurses #certification  #WOCNurseWeek2024.

Streamlined 2024 PGP requirements make more nurses eligible to recertify without taking an exam!

Join WOCNCB^® volunteers for PGP Office Hours, where you can ask questions in real time and learn more about the PGP process and available resources.

Join Zoom Meeting:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83685619793?pwd=Y1hqaGlvQStYaU9rRlNMQkR3ZE5JUT09

Meeting ID: 836 8561 9793
Passcode:  411130

Check out the new PGP resources available on our website: the 2024 PGP Handbook, PGP FAQs, short tutorial videos and WOCNCB Certification Inspiration podcast New Streamlined PGP Requirements – What you Need to Know!

Upcoming PGP Office Hours April 24th 4-5:30pm CT - Mark your Calendar!

Helping Hands

Thank You WOCNCB^® CFCN JTA Volunteers!

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 would like to give our heartfelt thanks to those volunteers on the CFCN Job Task Analysis (JTA) project:

UOAA Educational Award for Ostomy Nurse Certification!

Do you know someone interested in becoming a Certified Ostomy Care Nurse? UOAA is offering a NEW Educational Award to encourage more RNs to pursue a career specializing in ostomy care! WOCNCB^® will provide a complimentary application exam fee (value $395) to the award winner! Learn more and share opportunity.

The Benevolence Fund

Please don't let your credentials lapse because of financial hardship!

The Benevolence Fund provides financial support for recertification. Possible circumstances that would qualify you for funding include:

• Severe Illness/Accident
• Death of Immediate Family Member
• Natural Disaster (fire, crime, flood, weather, etc.)

To learn more and download the application visit the Benevolence Fund page of our website.

Youth Rally July 8th-13th, 2024

Nurse Volunteers Needed

Youth Rally is a summer camp for youth ages 11-17 living with congenital birth defects, chronic illness, or others who have been victims of physical trauma, many of whom wear ostomies or other surgical openings as a result of life-saving surgery.

Each year the Youth Rally has a dedicated team of Licensed Medical Professionals who have experience with wound, ostomy and continence nursing. Applications for nurse volunteers and campers are by June 1st. Youth Rally will take place at the University of Colorado at Boulder in Boulder, CO. Visit Youth Rally to learn more.

Save The Date!

Look for WOCNCB^® at these upcoming 2024 conferences:

If you do not wish to be included in our mailing list, please forward this message to info@wocncb.org.