To the Editor:
My concern for the future of our nursing specialty falls into the numbers category more than anything. A quick look at some of the statistics tells me we are an endangered species. We already are a fairly rare breed-according to the WOCN Web site accessed in February 2008, the international membership of the WOCN is 4,200. Of that number we know that some are retired, some work part-time, some are in nonpatient care/nonpatient teaching positions, and many practice only 1 or 2 and not all 3 aspects of the entire scope of the WOCN-wound, ostomy, and continence care.
According to the US National Center for Health Statistics accessed February 2008, there are 5,756 hospitals (2,942 over 100 beds), 226 federal hospitals, and 16,100 nursing homes (2,200 over 50 beds) currently in the United States. In addition, there are 673.7 million outpatient visits per year, and the National Association for Home Care indicates that there are more than 20,000 home health agencies in the United States. It is clear that our presence is already fairly rare within the healthcare community, and the fact is that, forgive me for saying this, the membership of the WOCN tends to be even more silver haired than the nursing population as a whole, whose average age is currently 47 years. (Yes, I am part of the silver haired group.) We stand to lose a significant number of our currently practicing WOCN ranks within the next 5 years. The nursing management aging workforce survey results released in July 2006 indicated that 55% of the surveyed nurses reported their "intention to retire between 2011 and 2020." Our ranks should expect at least that rate of attrition in that same time frame.
The WOCN accredited professional education programs have added innovative options over the past 10 years. We now have a webWOCN offering, a graduate-level program, and a growing variety of program options for attendees. My point is that we need to continue to think of how we are going to expand, grow, maybe even survive as a nursing specialty, and I encourage all the leadership and membership to remain open to new and innovative thinking about this-yes, doing things we have never done before. Not to weaken the practice/organization but to insure its survival and continued growth and presence across the entire healthcare system. We must do this for the very reason we all entered the specialty in the first place, to make a positive difference in the lives of those entrusted to our care.
Having graduated from the Emory ETNEP program in 1979, I have, like most WOC nurses, been involved in providing education programs for nurses on an ongoing basis. Mostly I find nurses eager to learn, appreciative, and motivated to share what they learn when they attend these programs. My personal feeling is that we need more encouraged, inspired passionate nurses to get into the specialty and continue the work, and I like the idea of the WOCN providing a stepping stone into this specialty for those nurses. Reaching out a hand to an AD nurse or the LPN who truly wants to learn and giving them that first boost in their knowledge of the specialty may end up being the nudge they needed to go on for a BSN, MSN, WOCN-who knows?
Surely as an organization of educated hardworking men and women who are dedicated to the WOC specialty, we can find a way to expand our reach without destroying what has been built over the past 40 years. I just know we can!! And, according to the numbers, we must!!
Linda Moore, BSN, RN, CWCN, COCN