IntroductionCertification and Career OpportunitiesContact

 Introduction

The Emory University Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nursing Education Center (WOCNEC) prepares the graduate to provide specialty care for patients with acute and chronic wounds, standard and continent diversions, and fecal and urinary incontinence. The center sponsors three separate courses of postgraduate study, which have been accredited by the Wound Ostomy Continence Nurses Society (WOCN) since 1976 and are approved by the Georgia Nurses’ Association for continuing education contact hours. In addition, the center offers a wound management course for treatment nurses.

The components of WOC nursing practice include: direct care and consultation, patient and family education and counseling, staff development, and research and management activities. The program's educational method is approximately 60% didactic and 40% clinical, with major areas of instruction including:

		Anatomy and physiology of GI, GU, and integumentary systems;
		Pathophysiology and medical/surgical treatment for selected disorders within the GI, GU, and integumentary systems;
		Nursing management of patients with altered patterns of elimination (ostomies, alternative procedures, and incontinence);
		Nursing management of patients at risk for skin breakdown and those with acute and chronic wounds (e.g., pressure ulcers, venous ulcers, arterial ulcers, and neuropathic ulcers);
		Rehabilitation concepts to include teaching and counseling theory, principles of sexual counseling, and growth and development issues;
		Role implementation issues to include principles of leadership, change theory, research guidelines, and reimbursement issues.

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 Certification and Career Opportunities

The Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nursing Certification Board (WOCNCB) provides a national certifying examination designed for entry level into the field for graduates of accredited educational programs such as ours. Board certification is highly valued as a means of credentialing practitioners of WOC (ET) nursing. Certification is valid for five years, after which recertification may be obtained by reexamination or through the Professional Growth Program (PGP), which is based upon a point system derived from activities such as continuing education, program or project development, research, publication, teaching, involvement in professional organizations, and academic education. To receive more information and to download the application form for the certification exam, please visit the websites for Applied Measurement Professionals, Inc., or the WOCNCB.

Of course, employability increases dramatically with certification. In the interest of making our certified graduates aware of current job opportunities, AfterCollege™ has posted a page that lists entry-level opportunities with employers throughout the country that have expressed an interest in hiring Emory WOCNEC students— this link reflects all job postings in real time.

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 WOCNEC Contact

Program Location:
Emory University WOCNEC
Room AT732
1365 Clifton Road, NE
Atlanta, GA 30322-1013

Telephone: 404.778.4067
Fax: 404.778.4778

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