Online certification... Good or bad?

oldiebutgoodie, RN · Jan 17, 2009

I have been a med-surg nurse for 3+ years. I am interested in becoming a wound care nurse. Wounds are the only aspect of med-surg that I am interested in. I live in New Jersey and I was checking the WOCN website for classes. The closest school to me is in PA and I have a 2 month old baby, so going to school out of state in not an option. An online course is offered. Has anyone been certified via online classes and if so, do you recommend it?
Thank you

I certified through Emory University's distance learning option. Although not online, it was a self-directed program, and for the wound and ostomy modules (I didn't do continence) there was a large (300+ pages) workbook plus a hardcover text book, and I had to take proctored tests. Then, a 1 week onsite class was required, and then 40 hours per specialty preceptorship.

There was also a Professional Practice module which included designing and giving an inservice.

I was able to do my preceptorship where I work, and only had to travel for the one week.

I felt that I learned a lot. It is important, however, to get really good preceptors for your clinical part of the program. I was lucky in that I was already working as a wound/ostomy nurse, so I was able to apply what I learned in the didactic portion immediately.

Oldiebutgoodie