For those of you in wound care/ostomy care: What doors have opened for you since becoming certified in wound care, ostomy care, or both?

I’ve been a CWOCN for almost 3 years now working in an acute care setting and have done travel nursing in this specialty. You gain a lot of respect in this specialty because not many people (doctors and nurses) fully understand (nor want to) in this specialty. You get to bond with patients, be involved in product selections, educate patients and staff, adjust/create policies and procedures, and collaborate with doctors on a different level. You are seen as the expert in wound and ostomy. You create the treatment plan and the nurses will perform those treatment.

You can work in acute care and outpatient clinics if you want. If you want to do home care you could. I did travel nurses and typically was the only CWOCN at the hospital. You hear stories of other travelers getting “bad assignments” but not as a wound nurse (in my experience).

My specialty work has allowed me to take back some of my time that I lost in bedside nursing. I can eat and go to the bathroom whenever I want. I dunno if I was of any help. I wasn’t sure how to answer your question. But I’m really glad I did this specialty. Feel free to reach out if you need any guidance :)