By Kimberly LeBlanc  and Nicole Kocajda

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic media has highlighted the strain it places on the health system and health professionals. Providing timely and specialized care for those suffering from acute and chronic wounds has been especially challenging.  The challenges are two-fold, access to care and access to specialized care. Healthcare professionals recognize the need for advanced education, however, with increasing workloads and limited access to education, obtaining advanced wound care education can be difficult.

Nurses Specialized in Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Canada (NSWOCC) work with Canadian clinicians to address the lack of access to specialized wound care.  The NSWOCC owns and operates the Wound, Ostomy, and Continence (WOC) institute. The WOC-Institute offers various standards of practice and competency-based programs to assist healthcare professionals in improving their skills and understanding of wound, ostomy, and continence, with both online and in person learning opportunities. The WOC-Institute’s competency-based educational programs are delivered by a team of highly knowledgeable and dedicated nurse leaders who are Canadian Association of Nurses (CNA) certified Nurses Specialized in Wound, Ostomy and Continence (NSWOC). The online programs are designed to address the education challenges Canadians face secondary to our extensive landscape and numerous remote communities. Graduates from the WOC-Institute programs work collectively to improve the lives of individuals experiencing wound, ostomy, and continence related issues.

Nurse Specialized in Wound, Ostomy, and Continence (NSWOC) Program (formerly the Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Education Program) is a state of the art, competency based, and standards driven, paced, twelve-month, online program which prepares university prepared nurses (BN/BScN’s) for the role of an NSWOC. The program consists of three courses, Ostomy, Continence and Wound. The final exam for the program is the Canadian Nurses Associate (CNA) certification exam. This rigorous exam ensures that our graduates possess the knowledge and critical thinking skills to work as certified NSWOCs.

The Skin Wellness Associate Nurse (SWAN) program is a five-month, competency based, paced online program which cumulates with a self-directed, mentored, clinical preceptorship which prepares practical nurses (LPN/RPNs) or diploma prepared registered nurses for the role of a nurse with enhanced skills in the areas of wound, ostomy, and continence. The program consists of three modules, Ostomy, Continence and Wound. The self-directed clinical preceptorships are the heart of the program’s success. Learners are afforded the opportunity to apply new skills and knowledge in real time with mentorship. Graduates are connected with mentors and a peer support network in order to foster continuing education and professional growth.

For healthcare professionals who would like to enhance their foundational wound care knowledge the WOC-Institute has developed the Practice Enrichment Series in Wound Management program. The courses are state of the art, 6-week self-paced online programs which are facilitated by a team of CNA certified NSWOCs. Onsite programs are available upon request.  Learners are directed through a series of modules designed to provide foundational knowledge in wound management and have access to virtual mentorship and knowledge consolidation opportunities with our team of CNA certified NSWOCs on a weekly basis. The course is offered throughout the year and is a rolling start.

The WOC-Institute just launched the Advanced Wound Debridement Program. The competency-based, advanced debridement course is designed by nurses for nurses and follows the Canadian best practise recommendations for nurses; however, the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Institute recognizes the course may be of interest to other disciplines. As such, non-nurses meeting the prerequisite education requirements will be accepted into the program. Healthcare professionals without a nursing background are responsible for recognizing their own scope of practice and jurisdictional policies related to their profession. In-depth knowledge of wound management is essential prior to enrollment in a competency-based debridement educational program. Prerequisite education is identified by the successful completion of a rigorous curriculum-based wound management program including stringent outcome measures such as examination. The primary objective of this program is to provide learners with advanced theoretical knowledge pertaining to all aspects of debridement. Learners are encouraged to seek out mentorship opportunities within their work environment and to work within their scope of practice. At the end of this program learners will have advanced debridement knowledge beyond the WOC-EP/ SWAN programs.  It is self-paced online with access to virtual mentorship and knowledge consolidation opportunities with CNA certified NSWOCs.  Once in person conferences resume, an annual workshop will be held during the NSWOCC National conference. The course is offered throughout the year and is a rolling start.

Community care paramedics play a pivotal role in the care of individuals living in the community. The WOC-Institute recently launched the Paramedic Practice Enrichment Series in Wound Care, a state of the art, competency-based, self-paced online program facilitated by a team of CNA certified NSWOCs. Onsite programs are available upon request. The course is offered throughout the year and is a rolling start.

To learn more about the programs please visit https://wocinstitute.ca/ or contact us at programmanager@wocinstitute.ca

Kimberly LeBlanc PhD, RN, NSWOC, WOCC (C), FCAN, is the Academic  Chair and Nicole Kocajda, MBA, IIWCC, ISWA  is the Program Manager of the NSWOCC Wound, OSTOMY and Continence Institute