Sharing the wealth:the annual WOCN Teaching Day

Wound ostomy continence nurses (WOCNs) have a wealth of knowledge and expertise to share with their nursing colleagues. Over the past seven years, The Capital Region Affiliate of the WOCN Society has held an annual Teaching Day as a way to share this knowledge and expertise, as well as market our unique nursing specialty. The Teaching Day planning and preparation begins in February with the curriculum planning by our members. As we are practicing across the continuum of care in a variety of settings, we bring practice problems and frequent asked questions as well as current topics such as reimbursement and quality improvement initiatives from our areas. The topics are chosen by consensus to represent each area of WOCN practice. Speakers are usually members of the affiliate, but national experts have been recruited as well. The Teaching Day preparation is divided among the planning committee with one or two members taking responsibility for booking the venue, soliciting and securing vendors, ensuring the speakers’ information is gathered for continuing education credits, applying for continuing education credit, creating and mailing brochures, collecting registration fees and organizing speakers’ handouts and WOCN marketing information for attendees folders. The Teaching Day in October attracts 75 to 100 attendees every year. Attendees are licensed nurses who are interested in WOC issues. Many are responsible for hands-on care of WOC patients and some direct the care of these patients in their facilities. Attendees are provided lunch and refreshments during the conference day. They are able to network with their colleagues during the break times as well as with the WOCNs. This personal connection and availability is an important piece of coming to Teaching Day. It has been a valuable marketing tool for our Affiliate and is looked forward to by attendees and planners alike.