Job Description
WOC Nurse and Clinical Educator
POSITION SUMMARY
To be fully engaged in providing Quality/No Harm, Customer Service, and Stewardship by providing direct patient care and assistance for staff education and training to ensure safe and effective patient-centered care for wound, ostomy, and continence issues. The WOC Nurse and Clinical Educator provides the full scope of WOC nursing practice, including patient education, counseling, research, and administration.
PRIMARY ACCOUNTABILITIES
- Demonstrates advanced nursing knowledge and practice for patients with ostomies, draining wounds, fistulas, alterations of skin integrity and incontinence, including conservative sharp debridement.
- Utilizes case-finding strategies to identify at-risk patients, such as unit rounds, utilization of computer reports, chart review, etc.
- Identifies educational needs of the patient/significant other, clinical staff, and the community. Develops and implements formal and informal educational offerings.
- Orients new associates and serves as clinical preceptor to undergrad/graduate nursing students, clinical associates, and RNs seeking WOC certification.
- Contributes to the development, implementation, and review of standards of care, policies/procedures and clinical pathways related to patients with ostomies, draining wounds, fistulas, skin alterations and incontinence.
- Actively participates on relevant committees, such as Risk Management, Best Practice, Wound/Ostomy/Continence Resource Team, and Product Standards, etc. Assumes leadership role, per needs of a specific facility.
- Participates in research to improve practice and outcomes (eg, performance improvement process, product evaluation, etc), taking an active role in coordination of prevalence and incidence studies, per needs of specific facility.
- Provides clinical consultations for physicians and staff caring for patients who have wounds, ostomies, or issues with continence of bowel or bladder, providing recommendations for the most appropriate specialty surfaces and repositioning devices.
- Serves as community resource for related support groups to promote continuity of care after discharge from the hospital.
- Contributes to the patient experience as evidenced by positive patient satisfaction scores, HCAHPs scores, and written/verbal compliments by patients/others. Consistently participates in the No Pass Zone initiative by responding to call lights and bed exit alarms.
- Serves as the subject matter expert in advancing clinical practice to achieve better patient outcomes through evidence-based and standardized nursing practice related to wound, ostomy and continence care.
- Facilitates and evaluates processes for unit-based orientation, cross-training, and maintenance of staff competency on wound, ostomy and continence care.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Education: Bachelor of Science in Nursing or related Bachelor’s Degree.
- Work Experience:
- At least two (2) years clinical experience as an RN.
- At least two (2) years clinical experience as a certified WOCN.
- Licensure: Current State of Florida RN licensure or endorsement.
- Certification:
- Must hold current American Heart Association Basic Life Support Healthcare Provider Completion Card prior to start date and maintain.
- Current Board certification by the WOCN Certification Board in wound, ostomy, and continence.
- Skills/Knowledge/Abilities:
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills to educate various ages and levels of understanding.
- Excellent customer service and interpersonal skills.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS - Moderate
- Physically agile; may require walking, standing running, bending, stooping, kneeling, climbing or crouching frequently
- Medium work that may include lifting or moving objects up to 50 pounds of force occasionally, with or without assistance
- May require moving self in different positions to accomplish tasks in various environments including tight and confined spaces, reaching out and above shoulders or overhead
- May lift, turn, pull, push, or ambulate people and/or equipment with or without assistance up to 90% of the assigned shift
- May be exposed to inside and outside environments with varied temperatures, air quality, lighting and/or low to loud noise
- May require working with biohazards such as blood/body fluids and airborne particles following OSHA and CDC Guidelines.
- Communicating with others to exchange information.
- Visual acuity and hand-eye coordination to perform tasks
- Workspace may vary from open to confined; on site or remote
- May require travel to various facilities within and beyond county perimeter; may require use of personal vehicle
COMPETENCY ASSESSMENT/SKILLS CHECKLIST:
- Adheres to the Standards of Practice as established by the Wound, Ostomy, Continence Nurses Society, the most current edition of the Professional Practice Manual, and the Florida State Nurse Practice Act.
- Refer to specific skills checklist
ABOUT HEALTH FIRST
At Health First, diversity and inclusion are essential for our continued growth and evolution. Working together, we strive to build and nurture a culture that recognizes, encourages, and respects the diverse voices of our associates. We know through experience that different ideas, perspectives, and backgrounds create a stronger and more collaborative work environment that delivers better results. As an organization, it fuels our innovation and connects us closer to our associates, customers, and the communities we serve.
Job Tags
Work experience placement, Remote job, Shift work,