Certification

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Eligibility for Advanced Practice Certification Exam

To be eligible for WOCNCB Advanced Practice certification, The Highest Recognition of Achievement in WOC Nursing^SM, you must fulfill the following requirements:

1. Hold a current RN license and/or APN license. (A copy of the current license must be submitted with your application.)
2. Have completed a MSN or higher nursing degree program to become an APRN (NP, CNS, NMW, CRNA). (A copy of diploma and transcripts must accompany application.)
3. Fulfill ONE of the following requirements to document basic Wound, Ostomy, and/or Continence knowledge:
   1. Accredited Education Program Pathway (Fulfill ALL of the following requirements)
      1. Complete a WOC Nursing Education Program that is accredited by WOCN.
      2. Candidates are required to successfully complete exam(s) within five years of graduation from a Wound, Ostomy, Continence Education Program.
      3. The Nursing Education Program must be accredited at the time of graduation.
      4. A copy of your certificate of completion/graduation must be submitted with your application. Please contact an accredited program for more information.
   2. Experiential Pathway (Fulfill ALL of the following requirements)
      1. Within each specialty for which certification is sought, 50 contact hours or an equivalent in college course work post-Bachelor's, must be completed over the previous five years. All contact hours or college course work must directly apply to the specialty area for which you apply.
      2. For each certification specialty, 1500 clinical hours must be completed over the previous five years. Further, 375 of those hours must have occurred within a year prior to application.
      3. Accumulation of contact and clinical hours must be earned post-Bachelor's and while functioning as an RN.
      4. Please read the complete instructions regarding documentation required in the Experiential Pathway section of the Advanced Practice Wound, Ostomy, or Continence Examination Handbook.
   3. Current entry-level WOCNCB certification in the specialty or specialties for which Advanced Practice certification is desired.

Upon passing the exam(s), individuals receive a CWOCN-AP^®, CWON-AP^®, CWCN-AP^®, CCCN-AP^SM, COCN-AP^®, or COCN-AP^SM credential. Certification must be re-established every five years.

Advanced Practice Recertification

Once you have earned the CWOCN-AP^®, CWON-AP^®, CWCN-AP^®, or CCCN-AP^SM credential(s), and wish to recertify, you may either take the certification exams again, or use the portfolio method to recertify. The WOCNCB established the portfolio method via the Professional Growth Program (PGP) as an alternative to taking an exam for recertification.

To be eligible for WOCNCB Advanced Practice portfolio for recertification, you must fulfill the following requirements:

• Hold a current RN license
• Possess current advanced practice WOCNCB certification
• Submit an activity portfolio by following requirements from the AP Handbook.

Upon approval of certification via portfolio, individuals receive their CWOCN-AP^®, CWON-AP^®, CWCN-AP^®, COCN-AP^®, or CCCN-AP^SM credential. Certification must be re-established every five years.

Complete eligibility and application details are available in the WOCNCB Advanced Practice Handbook.

Effective July 2012: New AP certification must be established via examination, and the AP portfolio will be available solely for AP recertification.