coolbreezegurl

So I started this thread originally and I wanted to give an update. I absolutely love being a WOCN but there are some downsides I think those considering the career should be aware of. First the pros: less stressful than working the floor, an opportunity to build close relationships with docs and other staff due to the high exposure, you really are the lifeline for patients that have anxiety over getting their first ostomy or healing a wound. Cons: salaried positions can really take advantage of your giving spirit, working 5 days a week isn't for everyone, and its easy to forget your other clinical skills when you're not working as a floor nurse anymore Also, I wanted to add beware of going into situations that seem too good to be true. I started off my original post by saying that I had been offered on the job training and certification as a WOCN. Turns out there was a reason for that. I ended up working for a WOCN Manager that is known for being very controlling and unprofessional. I did not know all of this at the time and this was her reason for wanting to "grow her own" WOCN. What ended up happening was that there was constant turnover in our dept, and I was bullied and gaslighted at every turn. I eventually couldn't tolerate it anymore and I had to leave. So I found out the hard way why they were willing to give me so much training, it was because experienced WOCN's didn't want to come to our facility to work because of managment. So if you live in the atlanta area and you are a brand new WOCN just be careful about what job opportunities you consider. You could end up in a situation that is not good at all for your professional development. Talk to other WOCN's who have been around and ask them about the jobs you are applying for. All in all though, becoming a WOCN has been great and I think I found my niche.

@woundnurse4u yes I did mention that I don't like dealing with needy patients, but I know it's inevitable. I am just grateful that I won't be subjected to it for 12 hours straight, and I can quietly disappear to the other side of the hospital when I'm done with them for the day. @turtle in scrubs I do believe you and I are living the same nursing life, LOL. No I'm not a thrill seeker by any means, and I will be glad to get away from the anxiety of having an unstable patient that might code. I think I did okay as an ICU nurse, but for the most part I just don't feel like i have the personality for it. Oh and guess what? I got through 1.5yrs of the iCU without EVER having a patient code on me, but the thought of it alone was enough to upset my stomach every shift. SO to update everybody. I DID GET THE JOB!!!!! I start my classes August 15th and if everything goes well I will have my certs by August 2016. So excited!!! I am anxious to get started and see what this hospital is really like since I have been at the same hospital since I graduated from nursing school 1.5yrs ago. Looking forward to seeing how another facility does things. Also looking forward to getting trained thoroughly. The hospital I am leaving promised me an orientation that I never really got straight out of nursing school. I pretty much had to fend for myself and grasp whatever morsels of knowledge happened to come my way. I have been reassured that at my new facility that they take training and orientation very seriously and I will not be thrown to the wolves, and I really respect that. I start next week and I will post about it soon.

Turtle in scrubs, I'm so glad to hear from you since you are in my exact situation. What is it that you love about wound care that makes it worth leaving the ICU for you so far? I have thought about asking to do an ICU shift here and there but I feel like I would need alot more training because right now I am at a smaller hospital than the one I might potentially be doing WOCN at. I don't think I would have time to train in the ICU to do things their way and learn all the millions of things I need to learn for the WOCN position. I know exactly what cert they are willing to pay for. The manager already told me and wants me to apply to the school. I'm so excited. To update everyone I am still waiting for an "official offer." I will give updates down the road on if I really get the job. Thanks for the input. I had a chance to shadow and I think this is where I am supposed to be.

Thanks for all the replies so far. I am leaning towards taking it if it is offered to me. I set up an interview so I'm excited but so scared. I'm one of those people who will continue to be miserable just to avoid a scarey change. How irrational is that?! I just can't fight the feeling that I might really regret not trying to go for it even if ultimately I don't get hired. One thing that really appeals to me is that I might actually get to do more nursing and less waiting on people. I find that especially in the ICU patients/visitors get very needy and have the misconception that nurses are there as their servants. Sometimes they are so needy (usually the ones that aren't sick enough to be in ICU anymore) that I neglect my sick as crap patient because the not so sick one is on the call light asking for a million things and I tend to feel like a teenager working the drive thru at ARBYs instead of a professional adult who has gone through years of schooling. At least with wound care I would be interacting with the patient long enough to treat, teach, eval and then out and don't have to deal with nonesense as much hopefully. @lovesongajp I believe you when you say you have had a hard time finding a wound care position. This is the first time I have seen one come up so that led me to believe it is not an easy field to get into. @RNNPICU thanks for commenting on the schedule because I was really fretting over that. I really am hoping my life might normalize if I am working normal hours. In all honesty since I work nights I feel like I am almost always asleep on my days off. Also I agree that the wound experience will make me more marketable. Thanks again

Hello All, let me just start out by saying I love this site because there are so many experienced nurses out there willing to give great advice. That being said I would like some input from wound care nurses. I am currently working in critical care and this is all I've ever known. I graduated from nursing school in Dec 2013 and went directly into the Intensive Care Unit (basically thrown to the wolves) and this is where I have been for the past 1.5 years. I just earned my BSN this past May so I am looking for a change to a better environment. The facility I work at is one of those "despicable" hospitals (for anybody who hasn't read that article on this site, its a great read, I identified all too well with the nurse in the illustration). Things are only getting worse, and I am frustrated because I feel I have hit a wall and I am not learning anything new. The physician/nurse communication isn't all that great and there is a huge disrespect for nurses that borders on contempt at times when it comes to some of the physicians who have been there forever. Our facility is about to be purchased by a mystery company yet they keep putting off the announcement as to who is actually purchasing us and I think it is because there are some pending indictments. I just can't keep waiting for this company to get it together. I don't think I hate critical care, I think I just hate working in a place where nurses don't get any support. Our hospital caters to the physicians and patients and could care less if they run their nursing staff into the ground and create unsafe situations for patients (for which the nurse will ultimately be blamed). I applied for a wound care position at another company with the intention of just doing PRN to get my feet wet and see if I like it. However, after talking with the recruiter for the second time she says they want to interview me for a full-time inpatient position with the understanding that I would eventually get certified in wound care, and they are willing to give me all the training I need (which is why PRN would never work, too much training needed). I have always thought of doing wound care, and of course in an ICU we see some nasty wounds (surgical wounds, pressure ulcers, venous stasis ulcers etc) so I have a tad bit of experience with wounds but nothing on the level of a professional wound care nurse. The job would be 8-4:30 Mon-Fri so it would take up more time (I'm used to working 3 twelves and getting my shifts over with and having several days off in a row). I need to know if what I am being offered is one of those opportunities that only comes once, and if I should jump on it or not. I love medication administration and critical thinking and titrating drips. I think I will miss this aspect of nursing if I go into wound care, yet I enjoy the idea of having more opportunities to educate patients, and develop a plan for how to treat them and monitor their progress. I think it would be very fullfilling. In the ICU I work nights and so I totally miss the patient education aspect most of the time (patient's sleeping, or vented/sedated no visitors around), also I don't have the freedom to discuss the patient with the physician because at night you can't just call them to discuss something none emergent without getting fussed at. I am still trying to get a grasp on my basic clinical skills, still trying to develop that nursing judgment and I just wonder if I am going to forget all that clinical stuff I have worked so hard to develop by switching to strictly wound care. With the schedule they are saying i would have to work I am sure I couldn't even stay on PRN in the ICU. I would love to hear some input. Especially from someone who has been in my situation. Thanks in advance.

I am starting my 4th and last semester of nursing in August. I can say my biggest regret is not minding my own business. I know you're a guy but nursing school can be a very "catty" environment full of gossip and mean-girls if you aren't careful. I noticed some of my friends turning into mean-girls, and telling everyone's business to anybody who would listen. I found the need to distance myself from these types of people last semester because I didn't want to be lumped in with their behavior. So I would say select your associates wisely, keep it strictly business, and mind your own business as much as possible. Keeping a low profile can be good when it comes to unwanted attention.

Thank you Letsgomets31, well a couple days after I posted this I received a letter stating that I am not a candidate. Just makes me kind of sad since I'm such a hard worker and have excellent grades and good letters of references from my instructors. I'm not sure what makes them select one person over another. However, in an effort to make lemonade out of lemons I applied for a tech position. My friend who is also a nurse told me that it helps if you want to get hired as a new grad to work at that place. So hopefully I will get a call back from HR. Does anyone have advice about how to follow up without being a pest? Is a phone call, email, or letter best? What should I say and how long should I wait?

Hello All, I just finished my 3rd semester of nursing, and I applied for a nurse externship at Shepherd Center in Atlanta a while ago for the summer. I haven't heard anything and I know orientation starts June 3rd. I really don't know anything about their selection process, and would really like to know when I could expect to hear something? I don't want to be a pest by contacting the recruiter, I'm afraid that might be looked at negatively. So I'm looking to connect with nursing students or nurses who might have previously gone through this program. If I don't get selected will they contact me to let me know I'm not a candidate or is it like any other job where if you don't hear from them then you weren't selected? Also do they contact you by phone or mail if you are a candidate? Also, if anybody has done this program I would love to hear about the experience you had there. I'm interested in this type of nursing, so I want to do this program so I can see how I like it. Has anybody done the nurse extern program and then gotten hired on as a new graduate? Any help would be immensely appreciated!