As some of you may know, I am a Wound Care Nurse (WCC) by trade. I have been practicing as a nurse for over 16 years now and have done so in various settings including Acute Care, Long Term Care, Case Management and Clinicical Hyperbaric Medicine. I also consult in Social Media, SEO, Internet and Mobile Marketing. I was checking out Facebook and Twitter and I came across a message from the NAWC.

In response to a Tweet sent out by the National Alliance of Wound Care that asks ” . . . WHAT MAKES YOU PROUD TO BE A WCC?”,  I was compelled to write a blog post.

By the very nature of being in Health Care as a profession, I enjoy caring for people. Perhaps that quality is what also attracts me to Social Media and caring about the communities within communities on the internet and beyond. I truly care about what is going on in other people’s lives and am genuinely interested in their lives and businesses.

The nature of the profession is altruistic or at least it should be. I’ll never forget my first Supervisor, Emily Zuwacki RN, who more or less oriented me to my first job.  She was tough on me and ‘showed me the ropes’ so to say and for that I will be forever grateful. Her tenacity and attention to detail made me the kind of Wound Care Nurse I am today. I believe that translated into excellent care delivery over the years.

As I practiced I developed a natural preference and affinity for Wound Care. When the opportunity became available to become certified, I jumped at the chance. The Wound Care Education Institute ( WCEI ) provided that opportunity to become Wound Care Certified. I attended and completed the training provided by WCEI in Philadelphia PA. My instructor was Cindy Broadus RN, WCC, LNC, CLNI and Scott Battie MPT.

I have to say that the course was intense and comprehensive. The instructors were no joke! They knew their stuff and totally prepared me for the National Exam. I sat in the front row and knew that I was experiencing something unique and special.

Since then, I have worked in various settings as a Wound Care Certified Nurse. I have been a Program Manager, on Wound Teams, Consulted Privately, worked in a Hyperbaric Oxygen Medicine environment and more. The networking has been amazing and I have met and learned so much from my colleagues.

More recently, I’ve had the amazing opportunity and privilege to work with the Wound Care Education Institute in a different capacity. As some of you may have guessed, I have a technical geeky side to me as well. I am all about Social Media, SEO, Social Media Marketing , Search Engine Marketing, PPC,  Mobile Marketing and such.

The forward thinking of WCEI’s Co-Founders, Nancy Morgan RN and Donna Sardina RN, provided me with a unique opportunity to work with them in Social Media. Having the background and knowledge base as a Wound Care Nurse and the background in Social Media and geekery opened the opportunity for an awesome scenario to oversee  Social Media and related activities. Naturally, interacting with the Community (over 9000!!!) of WCCs and Wound Care enthusiasts is an awesome opportunity.

Another reason I’m proud to be a WCC is that the knowledge I’ve gained is applicable immediately in the clinical setting. I make a difference in the treatment plan and thus the lives of the patients I encounter. The benefits are many. Intrinsically, I am satisfied when I can witness the physical (extrinsic) improvement of patients’ wounds as evidenced by the healing. It is quantitative and qualitative at the same time.

As a Wound Care Nurse and health care providers, we are charged with educating our patients and their families or loved ones about their care and disease processes. I have the unique position and opportunity to teach my peers and patients globally through the internet via Social Media (Facebook), Blogging, Video Sharing (YouTube), MicroBlogging (Twitter) and much more.

I can write blog posts about various wound care products or diseases or processes or make a video featuring a WCC and the clinical setting in which they work. I can send out Tweets about valuable and insightful content about wound care related topics.

The support that the NAWC brings to WCCs is invaluable. The National Alliance of Wound Care^® (NAWC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing together wound care clinicians from across the healthcare continuum through wound care certification and vocational support. That is evident in their participation in many health care related organizations, their online job board to mention a few.

Both entities, WCEI and NAWC have presences in Social Media and interact with their members and enthusiasts (community) on a continuing basis. I have personally met and worked with the instructors and team of both WCEI and NAWC and they are some of the most caring and helpful people you would ever meet.

As per their About Page: WCEI founding partners Nancy Morgan and Donna Sardina, both RNs with years of practice, identified many improperly treated wounds in their nursing careers.  They discovered that there was a great need for wound care specialization, but a significant shortage of qualified wound care professionals.  They also noticed a lack of available and accessible wound care education programs.

With their shared passion for healing, Nancy and Donna started a hands-on wound care consulting company.  Finding they couldn’t be everywhere at once, and there was a limit to how many people the two of them could help, they decided that a better approach would be to provide wound care education in order to train as many health care professionals as possible.  That’s how the Wound Care Education Institute – WCEI – was born.

The mission and philosophy of WCEI is to offer these unique attributes unavailable elsewhere in the wound care education market.

• To provide the highest quality wound care education possible, based on the most current standards of practice guidelines and evidence-based research.
• To openly share knowledge by making WCEI’s training available to any health care professional seeking wound care education, and by not limiting the training to only nurses or those with bachelor’s degrees in nursing.
• To focus on practical, rather than theoretical knowledge.  WCEI teaches its students what they need to know to impact care at the bedside.
• To drive knowledge down to the bedside because it is at the bedside that healing care takes place. It is at that level that wound care education is the most effective.
• To offer ongoing support to students beyond certification and to be an ongoing resource for standards of care in the wound care education field.

I have found these to be absolutely true at the very least. WCEI goes further and does so in Social Media. They have democratized the Wound Care industry by educating across various credentials and have united them at the same time. They have created a community of Wound Care Certified Professionals which only strengthens our Health Care System. They have pioneered the industry further by creating a course and credential for Wound Care Sales reps. This credential is the Certified Wound Care Market Specialist (CWCMS). This is congruent with their philosophy and brings Product Sales Reps into the mix as part of the Wound Care Team. It just makes sense doesn’t it? Extending the community within the industry takes foresight and forward thinking. By sharing and credentialing this group and community of reps, it strengthens the team and thus improves the care of our patients and families.

These are just a few of the reasons why I am Proud and Grateful of being a WCC!