Should I take an opportunity to become a wound care nurse?

[Spinnurse]

[I have some experience with wound care but have no idea if I would actually like doing wound care every day at work]

I am applying to a WOCN program that is 1 year long.  It will be fully paid by the hospital I work for. I will need to pay for books and once I finish the program and get the certification- I can then apply for a wound care nurse position at my hospital. However, that is "if" there is an opening at that time and if there is I would be considered first to fill that position. 

I have some experience with wound care and the times I have performed wound care or a dressing change it doesn't bother me. I haven't personally thought of becoming a wound care nurse until I found out about this opportunity to enroll into a fully paid for online wound care program.

I do well when I am involved with online learning. If I was forced to study for a certification on my own it would be extremely hard for me to have the self control to sit down and study every week. So this program would give me a chance to actually have a certification. 

I have researched about wound care nurse jobs and what it is like and it sounds very interesting to me and like something I could really enjoy. 

Once I finish the program I would be required to work at the hospital for at least 2 more years no matter what area I was working in. 

My goal is to get out of inpatient nursing and into a clinic or outpatient setting. I figured having a certification would help me get into the wound clinic. I am assuming I would have weekends and holidays off and that I very important to me as well. The past year I have been applying to many different clinic/outpatient jobs but to no avail. I am also on the Pressure injury prevention team on my inpatient unit. So I am the go to person for wound and skin care. I have only been doing that for a few months now and it is interesting. 

 

Is it worth apply for the wound care program?  [I may not even get chosen because they will only choose a certain amount of nurses] 

Could I make myself love wound care? I'm totally fine with it but wouldn't say I love it, do I need to love it to do it? 

How hard is it to be a wound care nurse vs. An inpatient nurse? 

[Hannahbanana, BSN, MSN]

As you have discovered, WOCN certification can let you write your own ticket. You could be an independent contractor working at several different SNFs, take a salaried position in a hospital or clinic, or any of several other options. WOCNs are also sought after to testify re standards of care and causation in abuse, neglect, and malpractice cases as a little side gig for (really good) extra $.

Anytime somebody offers that much education and opportunity for free, take it. Go for it!