Previously Asked Questions

Question:
Regarding this statement "Experiential Pathway". If you choose a course to be used in the Experiential Pathway, it means you must also have 1500 practice hours in the specialty (your own work experience) as long as 375 of the practice hours occurred in the past one year. I currently work in a hospital acute care in the medsurg/tele in patient the last 4 years. I do wound care daily for varies wounds as well as ostomy care while be a floor nurse. I also act has back up wound care nurse when primary is out or on vacation. Prior to this job I was also a wound care nurse at a SNF for 1-2- years My question is does all my hours count towards the Experiential Pathway hour needs for the whole time I have been working? How would I list what hours go towards which clinical needs when apply for the WOCN exma?

Question:
I have thoroughly read the pgp booklet revised 2024. I have asked this question before but I just need clarification because on page two of the booklet there are three categories listed for recertification. Is it okay just to use category 1 -continuing education and category 2 -practice hours and not use anything from category 3? I would like to use 40 points for practice hours and 40 points for continuing education to equal 80 points for each specialty. Is this acceptable? Thank you for your time.

Answered January 28, 2025
Yes, it is not required to have items from all 3 categories. It is acceptable to have a portfolio with points coming from category 1 and 2 to make it complete.

Question:
This is my first time completing PGP/ I am currently enrolled in an MSN program for nursing education. I have 11 classes I have taken all being 3 credits each. Can I use all these for points? Also, when I add these where should they go? can they go into any category? When i did add it to my portfolio it gave me 10 points for a 3-credit class, is this correct?

Answered January 27, 2025
You are able to enter any of your classes that are completed with credits issued to you. This is in Academics and can be used in any portfolio -- as long as the remaining half of the 80 points pertain to the specialty.They are worth 10 points per class.

Question:
I am looking to take a WOC course to then take the WOCN exam. does the board recognize Web WOC program ( https://webwocnurse.com/about-us/accreditation/ ) or woundeducators.com course for BSN wound care when taking the exam for wocn?

Answered January 27, 2025
There are 8 "traditional pathway" WOC Nursing Education Programs and WebWOC has one of those. However, WebWOC also has an "experiential pathway" course that has curriculum which does not provide the clinical hours as part of that course. So, depending on which of WebWOC's courses you were to take would mean applying in the correct pathway. Additionally, WoundEducators.com is not one of the 8 traditional pathway WOC Nursing Education Programs -- but it is a course providing CE only which can be used to apply for our certification exam using the "Experiential Pathway". If you choose a course to be used in the Experiential Pathway, it means you must also have 1500 practice hours in the specialty (your own work experience) as long as 375 of the practice hours occurred in the past one year. Please review our "Eligibility" page on the website, listed under "Certification / Wound Ostomy Continence."

Question:
I am looking to take a WOC course to then take the WOCN exam. does the board recognize Web WOC program ( https://webwocnurse.com/about-us/accreditation/ ) when taking the exam for wocn?

Answered January 27, 2025
There are 8 "traditional pathway" WOC Nursing Education Programs and WebWOC has one of those. However, WebWOC also has an "experiential pathway" course that has curriculum which does not provide the clinical hours as part of that course. So, depending on which of WebWOC's courses you were to take would mean applying in the correct pathway. If you choose a course to be used in the Experiential Pathway, it means you must also have 1500 practice hours in the specialty (your own work experience) as long as 375 of the practice hours occurred in the past one year. Please review our "Eligibility" page on the website, listed under "Certification / Wound Ostomy Continence."

Question:
Hello, I would like to know the correct way to list a continuing education discussion available through the WOCN Continuing Education Center but was not a part of a conference. The specific video I am referencing is Urostomy Management by nurse practitioner Tarran Sims. Thank you for the consideration.

Answered January 23, 2025
Thank you for your question. The PGP portfolio allows you to claim CE issued by the provider. The podcast you mention is provided by the WOCN Society. Their organization lists information on their website, www.wocn.org, saying "Certain episodes of WOCTalk award Contact Hours; these episodes are tagged as "Available for CE". You would claim the amount of CE in your portfolio based on the credits issued, and 1 CE equals 1 PGP point.

Question:
Does the board accept the canadian certified wound care nurse to work in USA with a canadian certificate?

Answered January 22, 2025
There are several ways to become board-certified. One of these is Canadians may use graduation from the NSWOC® Program (WOC-EP). Please call the office to discuss your options. 888-496-2622 Thank you, and best of luck!

Question:
Do I need continuing education to recertify via exam? I was unable to find the information in the handbook. Thank you.

Answered January 17, 2025
There is not a requirement for having CE to apply for and take exams when recertifying current non-lapsed credentials,

Question:
I am a WTA course coordinator and have been alerted that the WTA-C is not recognized as a part of the MAGNET criteria for the organization. I have been sent the list which includes all the WOC nursing certification opportunities but not the WTA-C. Can you please provide additional information or clarification. A real barrier to getting team members certified as it "doesn't count " toward Magnet or clinical ladder. thanks

Answered January 16, 2025
The ANCC Magnet status is based on accreditation approval through the NCCA or ABSNC and WOCNCB is researching this aspect. Previously, WOCNCB sought approval through the ANCC and at the time had criteria that for the certification to be recognized stating it must be professional and not technical or skill based to qualify for an approval. The WTA-C does not fall in this criteria category.

Question:
For PGP do we enter WOC Talk 2023 Podcast Series CE's the same way we enter CE's for the Annual conferences?

Answered January 15, 2025
It will be fine to group them together like conferences. For the CE title, you can list it as "WOCN Talk 2023 Podcast Series", and then will need to list in the PGP "brief description" the podcast topic and amount of CE for each -- such as "Elevate Your Practice with the Ostomy Care Management Program = 1CE" and "Ostomy Observations: High Output Stoma Syndrome = 1CE", etc.