Traversing the Climb from WOC Treatment Nurse to WOC Nurse Consultant

This program was created to optimize the role of the WOC nurse and facilitate the transition from WOC treatment nurse to WOC nurse consultant.  This practice change began with empowering the WOC nurse as educator and facilitator thus enhancing the role of the bedside nurse.

As an integrated 5-hospital acute care network, differences in patient population, complexity, acuity, volume and WOC nurse staffing perpetuated a variance in practice. Inconsistencies in role perceptions and expectations by staff and providers created dependence on the WOC nurse to initiate and provide routine care.  This misconception resulted in delays in care and reinforced the preference for the WOC nurse to fulfill the role of the bedside nurse.  This led to limited opportunities for bedside nursing education and prohibited their confidence with providing wound care.  This deviation from WOC nurse consultant standards has impacted productivity and the quality of patient encounters, and limited their availability for complex patients that require their expertise.   This further compromised the professional engagement of the WOC nurse.

After identifying the areas with the greatest opportunities, our guidelines for WOC nurse consults were modified to emphasize roles and responsibilities for the WOC nurse and the bedside nurse.  WOC nurses were paired for training in similar in-network hospital settings. Education was provided that supported change in practice and behavior through carefully constructed visit strategies.  Communication was geared to overcoming obstacles.  The emphasis was on providing opportunities to practice navigating through unpredictable encounters with staff and providers.  

Since program initiation, we have received anecdotal evidence supporting the value of this program. We plan to educate bedside staff and providers.  We will implement self-assessment tools, evaluation forms, and review results of employee engagement surveys and WOC nurse productivity data to fully assess the success of this program.