Donna Bliss, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN, WOCNF
Charleen Singh, PhD, MBA, FNP-BC, CWOCN, RN, WOCNF
Mikel Gray, PhD, RN, FNP, PNP, CUNP, CCCN-AP, FAANP, FAAN, WOCNF
Diane Krasner, PhD, RN, CWCN, CWS MAPWCA, FAAN, FAAWC, WOCNF
Janice Beitz, PhD, RN, CS, CWOCN-AP, FAAN, WOCNF
Mary Arnold Long, DNP, APRN, CRRN, CWOCN-AP, ACNS-BC, WOCNF
Linda Benskin, PhD, RN, SRN (Ghana), CWCN, CWS, DAPWCA, WOCNF
Barbara Pieper, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, CWOCN, FAAN, WOCNF
Stephanie Yates, MSN, RN, ANP-BC, CWOCN, WOCNF
Laura Swoboda, DNP, APNP, FNP-C, FNP-BC, CWOCN-AP, WOCNF
Laurie McNichol, MSN, RN, CNS, GNP, CWOCN, CWON-AP, FAAN, WOCNF
Charles Buscemi, PhD, APRN, CWCN, WOCNF
The inaugural class of the Wound Ostomy Continence Nurse Fellows (WOCNF) program was inducted in Las Vegas during the 2023 WOCNext Conference. The Wound Ostomy & Continence Nurses Society is pleased to announce these recipients and is proud of all they have contributed to the WOC specialty. The heart of the WOCNF program is best summed up by Hermann Hesse, who said, "It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is." There are many who have forged the path for where we are as a specialty today, and the initiation of this program was a small, but meaningful start, to remember their contributions and honor them.
This class is represented by professional nurses who have disseminated, propagated, procured, and innovated information, data, ideologies, and practical applications of knowledge. In this esteemed class, there is evidence of research, consensus building, clinical tool development, and general knowledge spread. Some have spent decades developing this catalogue of rich information, and some have had concentrated years of contribution. These professional nurses have a single thread in common: they have all moved the WOC specialty along.
The WOCNF program is not just about recognition, though, it is also about the continuation of these same activities through mentorship, modeling, and continuation of work that represents WOC innovation and impacts the receiver of care, namely, the patient. These individuals are now charged with finding the future, meaning, to invest into others (as they already do) to inspire, motivate, and advise as they also are building new pathways to care. The WOCNF program, this year, inducted individuals who are active and living. There are others who surely have made similar contributions, who are both living and even deceased. The vision of the program to honor the present, remember the past, and run into the future, honoring individuals who have left a mark, a legacy, in WOC care.
In the future, the program will expand. There will be resources to assess readiness to apply for the WOCNF, and there may be criteria developed to honor others who have significantly contributed but may have to be tributed posthumously. Undoubtedly, though, each WOCNF has responsibility to nominate others for the program and to seek to expand the program as it will surely demand.
It was certainly my honor to induct these individuals and it is a heartfelt desire to see the program come into full vision. The program will be left in the hands of Society leadership, and I am anticipating the fantastic fellows of the class of 2024!
Congratulations Inaugural WOCNF class of 2023!
Dea J. Kent, DNP, RN, NP-C, CWOCN
WOCN Society
Immediate Past President