From Seed to Full Bloom: Growing a Wound and Ostomy Nursing Network in North Texas

North Texas Wound and Ostomy Nurses was created on social media in 2015 after identifying the need for networking within our local community. This digital network quickly grew and continued growing. To meet the requests of our nurses, such as easy to find resources and communication by e-mail, we needed to expand our reach further than what social media could offer. In January 2017 we added a website to our repertoire to accommodate our growing network. We now have a greater range of capabilities such as being able to push announcements for events, resources and questions to preferred e-mail addresses in addition to social media. Resources can be easily uploaded and accessed. There are no restrictions for anyone to access our information or contact us, allowing us to extend our network to other healthcare professionals in our community who work with wound and ostomy patients.  Our network has grown over the last 2 years and as of October 2017; we have 131 healthcare professionals signed up through our website e-mail list in addition to 97 page likes and 68 group members on our social media sites. Through the collaborative efforts of our incredibly engaged group we have been able to help students find local WOC nurse preceptors, answer questions from several nurses and connect to the Houston Ostomy Association after Hurricane Harvey hit. We routinely receive positive feedback and have added helpful resources like a monthly ostomy support group flyer in response to that feedback. From a seed of an idea and with the dedicated nurturing from our nurses, North Texas Wound and Ostomy Nurses has continued to blossom into a thriving online network.