Wound care certified right out of school?

Published

Hello,

I am currently attending Lpn courses at Lanier tech in Oakwood Georgia.I have heard a lot of good things about wound care certification for Lnps.My question is can I become wound care certified without having worked in wound care before?I have been looking for information on it.From what have read most places what you to have at least two years experince, like the Wound care education Institute for example. Any information on the subject would be greatly appreciated.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Mother-Baby, Rehab, Hospice, Memory Care.

Yes I believe you will need at least 2 years of experience in that area before you can become certified. 2 years is pretty standard when it comes to additional specialty certifications for nurses. After all, the certification you hold says that you know what you are doing and knowledgeable in that specialty which cannot really be achieved without actual licensed clinical experience.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

From what I saw, classes are offered with no specifications, but I don't know about the certification process...they may very well require a certain amount of experience. I work in Ambulatory Care, and had every intention of taking the class and the exam if this is their requirement. Thanks for initiating this thread, because now, I have to investigate a bit more to see if this, in fact, is allowed in my case to just take the training and exam without the hours of experience.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Mother-Baby, Rehab, Hospice, Memory Care.

The Wound Care Institute says on the website for certification it requires:

"Documentation of active involvement in the care of wound care patients, or in management, education or research directly related to wound care while actively licensed for at least two years full-time/four years part-time within the past five years."

Sounds like an interesting certification. I hope to get hospice certified sometime in the future when I get some experience under my belt.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg.

Be careful where you get the certification. I love wound care and colostomy care. Some certifications are only available for BSNs or higher. Some programs will just charge you thousands of dollars and you will get a certification that is not highly viewed. I have a great wound care resource that I use for clinicals. In the past few months, AJN and RN 2008 have published wound care articles. I think LPN 2008 has also.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Are there any wound care/ostomy nurses to shadow? I have an interest in this area but want to be sure it is what I want to do before spending the time/money to be certified. Thanks

Carol

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

i am interested in becoming wound care certified as well...however, i have many years experience with wound care as a lvn but will be a rn within weeks...what i want to know is is my experienced based on the person seeking it or will i need 2 years exp with wounds as a rn..

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in psych. rehab nursing, float pool.

You need to work and be able document 2 years experience working wound care before you can then take the test for wound care certification.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC and Mental Health/Forensics.

I have also wondered about this! Does it have to be 2 years consecutive or does it matter?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion