WOCNEC Course Requirements, Dept. of Surgery, Emory

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Course Requirements, WOCNEC, Department of Surgery

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Acceptable Patient Care Theory Average Professional Practice Project
Inservice/Class Presentation Clinical Case Studies Clinical Competency Testing
Satisfactory Completion of Products Knowledge Test Graduation

Acceptable Patient Care

Quality patient care is essential to successful completion of the course. Students will be evaluated on an ongoing basis by their clinical preceptors; in addition to informal ongoing feedback, students will receive structured evaluations at the end of each rotation. To ensure that all clinical objectives are met, onsite students are assigned to a variety of clinical sites while students selecting offsite clinical are required to obtain at least two different preceptors and care settings to guarantee exposure to the full scope of WOC nursing practice. In addition, all students must participate in simulation labs to develop baseline competency in critical clinical skills.

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Theory Average of 80 or Above

Five unit examinations are administered followed by a cumulative final. An average of 80 is required as well as a grade of 80 or higher on the final exam.

PLEASE NOTE: In cases of test failure, students are given the opportunity to review the material and be retested. Every effort is made to facilitate learning and success.

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Professional Practice Project

Various aspects of role implementation are discussed during the course, as confidently implementing the WOC nurse role is often the first challenge many WOC nurses face following graduation. Therefore, each student is required to complete one of the following projects: a detailed role implementation plan following a structured format, a change plan, a detailed marketing plan, or a comparable project. Each student is also required to complete a Research Critique using a structured format; the intent is to assist the student in developing the "critique" skills necessary for establishing an evidence-based practice.

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Inservice/Class Presentation

Each student is required to develop and present an inservice related to either wound, ostomy, or continence care or to professional practice issues. The inservice should last 20-30 minutes. Students will receive two grades: one for the the written inservice program; the other for the actual presentation.

PLEASE NOTE:

Students enrolled in the ten-week onsite program will present an inservice to their student group; the topic selected must be appropriate for a group of WOC nurse students.

Students enrolled in the split option or distance learning program have two options for inservice presentation: with the approval of the clinical preceptor, they may prepare and present an inservice to the staff in one of the agencies where they are completing their clinical preceptorship; or they may prepare and present an inservice to the staff in their own agency.

All students are asked to obtain faculty approval for their inservice plan before actually presenting the inservice.

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Clinical Case Studies

Following classroom discussion of specific clinical problems, students are required to complete structured case studies. Each case is worth 25 points; the four case studies are equivalent to one test grade. Students in the distance learning program complete six case studies worth 25 points each.

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Clinical Competency Testing

The ultimate goal for the graduate of this program is to accurately apply current theoretical concepts to clinical practice. Therefore, a set of core clinical competencies is provided during the first week of class (for distance learning students, the core competencies are included in the introductory module). Once the student has completed the relevant theory, they are scheduled for competency testing involving a clinical scenario wherein they are asked to provide care and instruction to an ostomy or wound patient. Distance learning students complete competency testing onsite. While students have never admitted actually enjoying competency testing, they have overwhelmingly approved of this strategy as being very effective in "pulling it all together."

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Satisfactory Completion of Products Knowledge Test

Adequate knowledge of principles and available products used for managing urinary and fecal diversions is an important aspect of the WOC nurse's role. Various strategies will be used to achieve this: products and usage will be presented with didactic material and clinical instruction, a products fair is held for onsite students, and sample products are available for all students to study. The products knowledge test that concludes this phase of study is worth 50 points.

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Graduation

Successful completion of all course requirements and satisfactory clinical performance is imperative for graduation. If indicated, the faculty can request additional coursework or clinical preceptorship from an individual student; in such a situation, the student would be informed of the areas of concern and of their options for completing the course.

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