WOC Nurses with advanced degrees

mommy.19, MSN, RN, APRN · May 26, 2013

Just looking for some insight into advanced degrees and the WOC specialty. If a BSN trained RN gets board certified in these areas, then chooses to get a graduate-level education, how would this impact career advancement and job prospects? I'm just curious about the need for acute care ARNPs that specialize in WOC, or if there are other options that are available that I'm not thinking about... Curious because personally I would like to work in WOC but can also see myself perusing further education and enjoying the autonomy that comes with it.
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I think graduate level edu after specialty certification is a very smart move. I am a certified wound specialist and am starting my masters (acute care CNS) this fall. With this advanced nursing preparation you can be involved in a variety of ways, manage and or treat in an outpatient clinic, work in acute care to create policies/protocols for skin and wound management, or direct staff education. I'm sure there are many more functions I have not listed but these are the specific roles I have envisioned as a wound specialist with advanced nursing preparation. You'd really need to assess the need for this in your area or if you're willing to move the sky is the limit!

ddl77 · May 27, 2013

Thank you for the input. I actually don't know much about the CNS, besides that being the degree many Clinical Leaders have at my hospital. Everyone seems to be pushing the NP, whether it be at the Master's or DNP level.

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mommy.19, MSN, RN, APRN · May 27, 2013

Thank you for the input. I actually don't know much about the CNS, besides that being the degree many Clinical Leaders have at my hospital. Everyone seems to be pushing the NP, whether it be at the Master's or DNP level.
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APRN consensus model states NP=CNS. Some state scope of practices may differ, but NPs tend to gear more toward primary care roles where CNS tend to detail more roles as I have described above. I wouldn't put a lot of my time in for a phd unless I wanted to make research a priority. That's just my 2 cents. There are many threads here regarding CNS vs NP so I won't bore you with a repeat

ddl77 · Jun 4, 2013

That's interesting to hear. I actually didn't know much about the consensus model until you mentioned it. One more question - do RNs in this specialty generally become board certified in multiple areas (W, O, and/or C) to become more diverse/marketable?

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mommy.19, MSN, RN, APRN · Jun 5, 2013

That's interesting to hear. I actually didn't know much about the consensus model until you mentioned it. One more question - do RNs in this specialty generally become board certified in multiple areas (W, O, and/or C) to become more diverse/marketable?
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I'm a CWS, or Certified Wound Specialist, Board certified by the ABWM. WOC nurses are also board certified in any combination of the 3 specialties by the WOCNB. Many nurses I know that are certified by the WOCNB are W/O only, because continence isn't what you think. It's more pessaries and muscle training, etc. Certification preference can depend on what setting you'd like to work in also. I don't do a lot of ostomy care because I work in an outpatient clinic, but our inpatient nurse is W/O dual cert. Hope this helps!

ddl77 · Jun 5, 2013

That does help thanks! Nursing is a second career for me so I'm still learning these types of things. Continence always seemed to be a bit of an outlier to me, I'm most interest in wound and ostomy.

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