Your Move to address patient demands… Recognizing the increasing demand for skilled wound care in all care settings, including the military, the WOCN® Society has developed an educational program designed to increase patient access to skilled wound care providers.

The Society prides itself on being the premier provider of wound, ostomy, and continence (WOC) education, and in response to the need for more skilled nurses providing wound care, the Society has developed a new educational program for the non-specialty wound care provider.

Your Move to educate and enhance your team…The WOCN® Society is proud to present the Wound Treatment Associate (WTA) Program. WTA is a WOCN® Society endorsed wound care educational program geared to non-specialty nurses and medics/corpsmen. After completion of the program, the wound treatment associate will receive a certificate of completion and will be prepared to function as an integral and valuable member of the wound care team.

As WOC nurse extenders, WTAs will be prepared to assist with daily patient monitoring, pressure ulcer prevention, and wound management.

Responsibilities of the WTA:• Collaborates with other team members to provide routine care that keeps skin healthy.• Collaborates with other team members to identify patients at risk for pressure ulcer

development and provides appropriate preventive care using established protocols.• Recognizes patients at risk for skin tears and incontinence associated dermatitis and

initiates appropriate preventive care.• Collaborates with other team members to identify and address causative and contributing factors to skin

breakdown.• Collaborates with other team members to assess and address systemic factors affecting wound healing.• Collaborates with other team members to provide ongoing and comprehensive assessment and

documentation of wound status and progress in wound healing.• Collaborates with other team members to select appropriate dressings to maintain a physiologic environment

for wound healing.• Identifies patients who require referral to a wound specialist or vascular surgeon. • Performs the following procedures when ordered and appropriate: • Applies compression wraps • Measures ankle brachial index (ABI) • Obtains swab wound cultures• Assists with providing appropriate education regarding skin and wound care to patients, families, and staff.• Collaborates with other team members to maintain an appropriate inventory of products for skin and wound

care.• Participates in quality improvement programs.

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Your Move: Utilize WOC nurse extenders (WTAs) to strengthen your agency’s pressure ulcer prevention program and comprehensive wound management program.

Building a Winning Team: How WTA fits in

The art of chess strategy consists of formulating a plan, thinking a number of moves ahead, and arranging the pieces to best outwit your opponent. The WOC specialty nurse is the chess master, and the wound is the opponent.

Study the challenges in today’s health care environment. View the opposition. Think about desired outcomes: elimination of avoidable pressure ulcers, cost-effective and clinically effective management of open wounds. Formulate a plan that will result in a victory.

In order to implement an effective wound prevention and wound management program, you need a strong team. The WOC nurse is prepared to develop and coordinate an agency wide program but he/she needs a strong and knowledgeable team in order

to implement the program effectively. The WTA will be prepared as a strong and knowledgeable team member…

To provide both clinically effective and cost effective care, you must utilize your staff in the most strategic way. Wound treatment associates are prepared to collaborate with the WOC nurse and to provide the needed care at the bed side. The WTA Program is an educational course in basic wound care, taught by a WOC specialty nurse and endorsed by the WOCN® Society. The wound treatment associate will not become a WOC specialty nurse by completing the WTA Program, but he or she will become an important member of the “winning team” and will contribute significantly to positive clinical outcomes.

“As one who found himself facing health issues and life altering changes that needed careful consideration, when I needed calm reassurance and knowledgeable and caring support, that support came in the form of a wound/ostomy/continence specialty nurse and her valuable team members. Frankly, I could not have been treated better by anyone and the ability to spend time with these professional nurses enabled me to learn about healing and prevention.”

…Your Move to create a life changing team that supports the WOC nurse.

WOCN® education prepares the head and the hands.“Strategy requires thought, tactics require observation”- Max Euwe

Quick Snapshot. Content areas covered through the WTA Program:

• Role and responsibilities of the wound treatment associate.• Strategies for maintaining healthy skin and preventing pressure ulcer development.• Hands-on skill training.• Basic wound healing physiology and implications for wound management.• Monitoring and documenting wound status and response to treatment.• Principles and products for wound care.• Identification of lower extremity ulcerations and review of management strategies.• Nutritional support.

Your Move to provide WOCN® endorsed education to your staff… Wound treatment associates will obtain valuable education and skills that prepare them to work under the direction of a WOC advanced practice registered nurse, WOC specialty nurse or physician. The WTA Program also provides for enhanced recognition of the “value” of WOC specialty nurses, who can lead and facilitate the program in their own settings.

** Information about the WOCN® Society’s Accredited Nursing Education Programs is available at the Society’s website (www.wocn.org). Nurses can also qualify for the certification examinations provided by the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing Certification Board (WOCNCB®) by an experiential pathway (www.wocncb.org).

There is a difference. Role/Scope of Practice: Wound Care Providers

WOC advanced practice registered nurse (APRNs) WOC specialty nurse Wound treatment associate (WTA)

Education Master’s degree or higher. Minimum Baccalaureate degree.Minimum of diploma, associate degree, practical/vocational nurse education, or successful completion of military medic training.

Licensure Licensed as APRN by State Board of Nursing (SBON).Licensed as a registered nurse (RN) by State Board of Nursing (SBON).

RN, LPN/LVN (no license required for military trained, active medics/corpsmen who are functioning in their role within their respective military organizations).

Certification

i. Certification as an APRN by a nationally recognized certification board such as ANCC or AANP.

ii. Specialty certification in wound care awarded by a nationally accredited certifying body (e.g., CWCN, CWON, or CWOCN).

Specialty certification in wound care by WOCNCB® (i.e., CWCN, CWON, or CWOCN).

Wound Care Education

Completion of a WOCN® Society Accredited Nursing Education Program.**

Completion of a WOCN® Society Accredited Nursing Education Program.**

Certificate of completion from a WOCN® Society endorsed, WTA continuing education program.

Level of AutonomyFunctions independently or in collaboration with a physician (dependent on SBON).

Functions independently under the guidance of an MD or APRN.

Functions under the direction of the supervising WOC APRN, WOC specialty nurse or physician.

Unique functions/abilities in wound care management

Leadership and Education Coordination

i. Provides leadership in coordination of multidisciplinary health care for integrated delivery of patient care.

ii. Develops and implements educational programs for patients, staff, and other health care providers.

i. Develops and coordinates agency wide programs for prevention and management of skin breakdown.

ii. Establishes and coordinates multi-disciplinary, comprehensive management plans.

iii. Develops and implements educational programs for patients, staff, and other health care providers.

Hands-on Treatment and Care Coordination

i. Establishes a diagnosis based on comprehensive assessment.

ii. Makes advanced clinical decisions. iii. Uses prescriptive authority, procedures, referrals,

treatments, and therapies in accordance with state and federal laws and regulations.

iv. Facilitates and coordinates use of systems and/or community resources to implement and enhance care across continuums.

i. Provides expert consultation and/or hands-on care for individual patients with acute or chronic wounds.

ii. Advocates for the patient with skin and wound care needs and for the professional practice.

iii. Performs conservative sharp instrumental wound debridement of devitalized tissue and chemical cauterization per physician order.

iv. Derives the diagnosis, problems, and or health issues based on assessment data.

v. Utilizes community resources and systems to implement the plan of care.

i. Implements preventive care per established protocols and monitors skin status.

ii. Implements treatment plans established by the supervising, WOC APRN, WOC specialty nurse or physician, and uses products as outlined in the plan.

iii. Provides on-going monitoring of the wound and the patient’s response to the established plan to include measurement and observation of the wound.

iv. Notifies supervising clinician when the wound deteriorates or fails to progress.

Quality Testing & Analysis

i. Contributes to nursing knowledge by conducting, critically appraising or synthesizing research that discovers, examines and evaluates knowledge, theories, criteria and creative approaches to improve health care practices.

ii. Analyzes outcomes (related to organizational care delivery and populations served) to make. recommendations for improvements in care delivery systems across the care settings.

i. Coordinates care for populations of patients, identifying trends, and developing standardized prevention and treatment protocols and refining protocols based on outcomes.

ii. Coordinates quality improvement initiatives to optimize skin and wound outcomes.

iii. Analyzes quality data to identify opportunities for improving wound care.

Participates in quality improvement programs.

Differences

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www.wocn.org/WTA

Your Move to expand your team: How to become a wound treatment associate…

Delivery of Education Registered nurses, licensed practical/vocational nurses or military medics/corpsmen can take part in the WTA Program in one of two ways:

1. Attend a WOCN® Society’s WTA regional event2. Participate in an online program followed by

on-site competency evaluations. These online/ on-site programs can be provided in any setting, under the direction of a WOCN® Society approved WOC nurse.

Visit www.wocn.org/WTA to learn more and to participate in the regional event or an online program.

Please note that the WTA Program is not a certification program. It is a continuing education course offering contact hours upon completion. To receive the completion certificate and contact hours, learners must pass a written comprehensive post test and satisfactorily demonstrate competency (i.e., in clinical simulations) in the following skills: performing risk assessment, pressure ulcer prevention, basic management of incontinence associated dermatitis and skin tears, documentation of wound status, application of a four-layer compression wrap, and measuring an ankle brachial index.

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