Partnering for the Future – Increasing Access to Care (OCA and WTA Integration) (EP.06)

Do you struggle with not having enough WOC nurses to meet the patient needs in your facility or practice area? The Wound Treatment Associate (WTA) and Ostomy Care Associate (OCA) programs can be a game changer. By training your front level clinicians in the basics of evidence-based wound and ostomy care, the reach of the WOC nursing staff can be extended. WTA and OCA trained clinicians can be your eyes on the ground to help identify issues when they first appear and provide early evidence-based interventions as well as give accurate first-hand information to the rest of the WOC nurse team and providers. During this episode of WOCTalk, we sit down with WTA and OCA Course Coordinators to showcase approaches to integrating the WTA and OCA programs into your practice.

Interested in learning more about the WTA and OCA Programs?

For information about WTA, visit: wocn.org/wtaprogram

For information about OCA, visit: wocn.org/ocaprogram

View the full conference session, “Partnering for the Future—Increasing Access to Care (OCA and WTA Integration)”

Want to review more sessions from the Society’s 50th Annual Conference? The full conference library is available for purchase. Choose from the entire package, or individual sessions here.

Speaker Bios

Gisele Castonguay APRN, CWOCN - Nurse Practitioner, Central Maine Medical Center

Gisele Castonguay has offered the WTA program through her institution to both hospital and surrounding regional facilities since 2015. The program is offered twice yearly in a classroom style setting, meeting once weekly for 6 weeks. The goal of the initial program was to provide further education to the inpatient nursing staff and to help develop wound warriors on each nursing unit. Since the implementation of the WTA Program, over 100 individuals that include nurses, NP’s, PA’s and PT’s have successfully completed the program. The program has impacted her institution’s pressure injury rates in a positive way as well as enhanced their ability to provide timely wound care to their inpatient population. It has also provided a much needed community resource for affordable wound education in the region with inadequate WOCN access. The Ostomy Care Associate program was a piloted study in her institution, allowing 17 nurses from across the region, with varied clinical practices, to test the program prior to the official launch. This also provided an opportunity to provide basic didactic and hands-on ostomy education to nurses in a rural setting who have limited access to an experienced WOC nurse.

Sara Coverstone RN, MA - Director, Home Care Compliance and Risk Management, OSF HealthCare

Sara has worked for OSF HealthCare in their Home Care Services department for twelve years, serving as a Certified Wound, Ostomy, Continence Nurse (CWOCN) for eight. She has served in the clinical practice department providing oversight to the wound care team, wound protocols and processes, wound education, and the medical supply program. She has also facilitated wound training extending to the community through the WOCN Society’ Wound Treatment Associate (WTA program). She now serves as the Director of Compliance and Risk Management.