Recertification by PGP

[Eligibility] [Application Process] [Fee and Documentation] [PGP Handbook] [PGP Forms] [Model PGP Portfolio] [Questions] [Common Mistakes] [Application Schedules] [PGP Definitions of Terms] [Audit Documentation] [Sample Precepting Form] [Pre-Approved / New Activities] [Home]

Eligibility

• Be currently licensed as a Registered Nurse. (A copy of your current license must be submitted with your application.)
  
  
• Be currently certified by WOCNCB^® in all specialties in which you apply for recertification. (A copy of your certification certificate must be submitted with your application.)
  

It is not permissible to recertify through the Professional Growth Program if you first fail the examinations for that recertification cycle.

Application Process

To view the chart which explains how applications are received and processed, click the link below:

Application processing chart (Adobe Acrobat required)

To download Adobe Acrobat click here

Fee and Documentation

You must submit the following by the postmark deadline but no more than six months prior to the expiration of your current certification.

• Completed Application (including Point Logs and Verification Forms)
  
  
• WOCNCB staff will verify current cerification and RN licensure upon receipt of application.
  
  
• Fees:
  One Specialty: $300
  Two Specialties: $350
  Three Specialties: $400
  Four Specialties: $450
  

You are advised to keep a copy of your recertification application and materials. WOCNCB^® is not responsible for correspondence lost in the mail. It is advisable to send your application materials by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by another traceable means such as FedEx or UPS.

Send all recertification materials and direct candidate inquiries to:

WOCNCB^®
555 East Wells Street
Suite 1100
Milwaukee, WI 53202-3823
414-289-8721

Electronic Submission of PGP Portfolios

The WOCNCB would like to encourage those candidates recertifying via the Professional Growth Program (PGP) to submit their application portfolio via electronic means. You may use the PGP Forms found on the website, save the files on your computer, and send the electronic files as an e-mail attachment to: info@wocncb.org. We will acknowledge that your application portfolio is received by reply e-mail. Payment via credit card may be indicated on your application, or, you may mail your check separately. If you mail check payment, you will not need to include your portfolio - the WOCNCB staff will simply apply the payment to your PGP application on file. Remember to include a copy of your RN license and current certification, as required. If you have questions about this process, please contact the WOCNCB at 1-888-496-2622 or e-mail info@wocncb.org.

PGP Handbook

The WOCNCB^® is committed to updating the PGP process to reflect the most current clinical practices of the WOC nursing profession. Toward that end, the PGP Committee will revise the PGP Handbook every two years to meet the ongoing changes in WOC nursing.

It is the responsibility of certificants to ensure they are using the appropriate edition of the handbook for the period in which they are recertifying. Certificants submitting their PGP applications between ---- December 31, 2007 and December 31, 2008 may submit their portfolios utilizing the point distribution of either the April 2006 or the February 2008 handbook. After January 1, 2009, certificants must adhere to the point distribution requirements of the February 2008 handbook.

If you have questions, please call the WOCNCB^® office at 1-888-496-2622.

Click Here to access 2008 handbook (Size: 840KB - in Adobe .PDF format)
PGP Handbook is a 44 page document.

PGP Forms

Click below to access interactive forms. You will need to download a set of the forms to be used for each specialty (Wound, Ostomy, or Continence).

Interactive Forms 2008 (file size 644 KB - MS Word format) - download a set for each specialty

FILLING OUT INTERACTIVE FORMS:

Extra verification forms are provided within each specialty for more commonly used categories.

Skip pages you do not need to fill in.

Fill in each grey shaded area. (The grey shaded areas will expand as you type, and are unlimited in length.)

Use Tab key (or Arrow keys) to move the cursor into each "fill-in-the-blank" shaded area.

Type "x" in the checkboxes you are filling in.

Print only the pages you fill in.

Questions? If you have questions, or for any reason these interactive forms do not contain enough copies so that you can complete your PGP portfolio, please contact the WOCNCB® (888) 496-2622 for assistance.

(Click here to obtain Adobe Acrobat Reader Software)

For a hard copy of the PGP Handbook call the National Office at (888) 496-2622.

Model PGP Portfolio

This PGP model portfolio has been created for easy reference, and is meant to assist you when compiling your materials, putting together the point logs and verification forms.

The forms included here are a representation of acceptable PGP documentation.

Click here to download the Model PGP Portfolio.

Questions

Questions about PGP?

If you have general questions on the process, please call Kathy Meyer at WOCNCB^®, (888) 496-2622.

If you have specific questions, such as

• Which specialty does a specific activity qualify for
• How many points can you claim for a specific activity
• What topics fall into "professional practice"

you may visit the "Ask the Board" section in this website.

Common Mistakes Made When Recertifying Through the PGP

If you will be recertifying through the PGP, there are a few things that you should know. Candidates should read the instructions in the most current handbook thoroughly before submitting their portfolio. The handbook provides you with updated forms and more explanations and examples of activities that can be submitted. As the PGP Committee reviews packets that have been submitted for recertification, we have seen some common mistakes. Below is a list of these mistakes. As always, if you have any questions, please contact the Board through our website www.wocncb.org or call 1-888-496-2622. We’re here to assist you and make this a positive experience.

1. Mistake: Point Logs and Verification Forms are not filled out correctly or not at all.
   Correct Way: A Point Log needs to be filled out for each category. The Point Log is a summary of the activities for each specialty along with the points awarded for the activity. The verification form explains the details of the activity. The verification form must be filled out for each activity submitted. Forms can be found with each specific category in the Handbook.
   
   
2. Mistake: When submitting your packet you decide to add more than the required 80 points per specialty.
   Correct Way: Please submit only the 80 required points for each specialty. We understand that there are times when your point total may go over 80, but anything over 100 points will be sent back to you to decide which points will be included in your packet for review.
   
   
3. Mistake: Using wound or ostomy CEUs under the incontinence specialty.
   Correct Way: After meeting the requirement of 10 CEUs under a specific specialty (i.e. incontinence) you can use Professional Practice programs such as, “Cultural Diversity is Actually The Norm”, “Marketing Your Practice” or “Preceptor Workshop”, to provide you with a maximum 30 points for this category. Topics such as domestic violence, tuberculosis or CPR are not specific to WOC and are not acceptable for credit under CEUs. The CEUs particular to a certain specialty cannot be transferred to another specialty, e.g., wound CEUs cannot be used for continence CEUs.
   
   
4. Mistake:If you are not sure what category an activity would fall under and you submit it to the board for prior approval using Category I and expect a reply in a week.
   Correct Way: If you are submitting an activity under Category I to have the board determine the point value, please allow at least 4 weeks in advance of your submission date. This will allow the committee time to review the activity and determine the point value.
   
   

5. Mistake: You are submitting the Prevalence and Incidence Report as a Category C: Research Activities.
   Correct Way: Prevalence and Incidence activities should be placed as a B10 activity. Research activities that require IRB approval are placed under Category C.
   
   

6. Mistake: You have precepted students in wound, ostomy and continence care. When you tally up the number of hours that you have spent with them, you place all your points under the Continence Category.
   Correct Way: When you total up your points for precepting, please separate out the points that you spent doing wound, ostomy and continence care and place them in the appropriate category.
   
   
7. Mistake: You give a lecture and repeat it several times during your certification period. When filling out your verification form, you take points for each time that you gave the lecture.
   Correct Way: Points can only be earned for the first time you present the information, not for repeat presentations of the same lecture.
   
   
8. Mistake: Your last certification period was from November of 1999 to November of 2003. Prior to attending ET School in September 1999 you established a wound care committee. You are planning to use this activity toward points for recertification.
   Correct Way: Points for activities submitted toward points for recertification must be performed during the recent five years of certification.
   
   
9. Mistake: Placed CEU entitled “Skin/Wound Care for the Incontinent Patient” under both the wound specialty and the continence specialty, using points twice.
   Correct Way: The same activity cannot be repeated in more than one specialty. Place the CEU under one specialty.
   
   

Application Schedules

You must submit your PGP application according to the following schedule:

Definitions for PGP Terms

The following definitions have been developed to explain the meaning of some of the terms used in this handbook. Please review these definitions before you begin filling out the forms. If you have additional questions after you have reviewed the terms, you should go to the WOCNCB's website at www.wocncb.org, click on "Ask The Board," and post your question. Your question will be answered within 48 hours. ("Ask the Board" Disclaimer - The Board's answers to PGP questions posted on the www.wocncb.org website's "Ask the Board" are as accurate as possible without having the questioner's complete portfolio at hand. Questions may at times lack full and comprehensive information about a specific activity, or a question or answer may be misinterpreted by the reader. As a result, the WOCNCB cannot guarantee that it will accept points based on the answer to a question posed on "Ask the Board." Points can only be fully verified and justified when the completed PGP portfolio is evaluated by a PGP reviewer.)

Brochure/pamphlet: Summary of information regarding a product or service.
Example: You develop a tri-fold marketing piece outlining the WOC Services offered at your hospital.

Clinical Pathway: A clinical pathway is intended to be a multidisciplinary patient plan of care. These pathways are disease/condition specific and usually include standing orders, policy and procedures, patient education, on going patient assessment criteria, etc. Many times for this process to be developed there are multidisciplinary meetings held to determine what must be in the pathway. Activities in this category require multiple steps for completion.

Clinical/Professional Fact Sheet: Factual clinical information intended for the healthcare professional.
Example: You develop a clinical fact sheet for nursing students which shows the difference between venous, arterial and diabetic ulcers.

Competency Based Tool: An educational activity that measures the wound, ostomy or continence skills and knowledge of the nursing staff.
Example: You develop a wound care competency test for the nursing staff that consists of a scenario to evaluate a wound care patient. The nursing staff then completes a Braden scale, measures the wound, and documents it on the Wound Documentation Record.

IRB (Institutional Review Board): An institutional committee which is required to review all human-subject research conducted within the institution.

Module: A wound, ostomy or continence course in a written, electronic or video format.
Example: During RN Orientation, you are asked to complete a written learning course on the Wound Care Policy and successfully pass a written test on the subject.

Multidisciplinary Wound, Ostomy and Continence Service: Establishing a wound, ostomy and/or continence practice that includes various disciplines. For example: a team consisting of a WOC Nurse, a Physical Therapist, a Vascular Surgeon, Social Worker and a Dietician, etc., who are involved in caring for patients with wound, ostomy and/ or continence issues.
Example: You develop a Stoma Clinic that involves a WOC Nurse and a Surgeon caring for ostomates with stoma issues.

Patient Education Tool: Factual information developed and written for patients.
Example: You develop a one page handout on "High Fiber Foods for Ileostomates."

Professional Practice: Courses or activities, other than topics clinically related to wound, ostomy or continence specific activities, that impact or enhance the role of a WOC Nurse.
Examples: "Marketing Your Business", "Legal Issues", "Integrating Technology into your Practice", "Preceptor Workshop", "Outpatient Billing/Reimbursement", or any of the Professional Practice courses offered at the WOCN Conference.

Quality Improvement Project: An activity in which a problem is identified, solutions to the problem are identified, and a corrective program is implemented. After an initial period of utilizing the program, the solutions are reevaluated to identify the results and success of the program.
Example: Through chart audits you find that wounds are not being charted consistently and correctly on patient records. You develop a "Wound Documentation Record" that provides nurses with a list of descriptions regarding the appearance of the wound. Nurses are asked to go down the list and check off those adjectives that best describe the wound. After in-servicing the form and using it for three months an audit is performed and shows that correct documentation was found on 90% of the charts.

Self-Assessment: Not measured elsewhere in your PGP portfolio. Identifies the process behind an activity, specific to the activity.
Example: Web searches to find pictures for preparing a Power Point presentation.

Wound, Ostomy or Continence Nursing Service: Establishing a wound, ostomy, and/or continence nursing practice in which the WOC Nurse is responsible for the care of wound, ostomy and/or continence issues within a healthcare setting.
Example: You take a newly created hospital position as a WOC Nurse. Your responsibilities are to define your WOC nursing role and responsibilities, establish the hospital's policy and procedures for wound, ostomy and/ or continence patients, and develop a billing procedure.

Audit Documentation

What follows is a sample list of acceptable materials if you are notified of an audit. We recommend you contact the source for documentation when you do not have copies on-hand, since you are given 30 days to complete the audit. You will be provided with the instructions and forms along with a notification of an audit.

Category A (CEUs)

• Copy of CE certificate or certificate of completion
• Fill out audit form if you do NOT have certificate

Category B (Programs/Projects)

• Copy of proposal, project, procedure
• Letter from law firm
• Letter from WOCNCB^® Exam Committee Liaison

Category C (Research)

• Copy of findings
• Other documents showing project completion

Category D (Publications)

• Copy of article or publication
• Copy of title page with date/table of contents

Category E (Teaching)

• Completed sign-in sheet
• Promotional brochure
• Letter of agreement or acceptance
• Letter of validation from organization

Category F (Professional Organizations)

• Newsletter
• Minutes
• Directory

Category G (Academic Education)

• Transcripts
• Course description
• Letter from sponsoring organization

Sample Precepting Form

It is suggested that you keep track of precepting hours by wound, ostomy, and continence specialties in case of audit. Click here for a sample tracking form for Category E-3 and E-4 Precepting Activities.

Pre-Approval in Category I (Activity Not Defined)

We realize there are creative people, and that we may not have captured all the projects and activities you may have worked on. When you want the PGP Committee to review the project or activity for a decision of acceptability and the points you may be awarded, please submit documentation one (1) month prior to the PGP application deadline. You will need to use the Category I Verification Form and send it to the WOCNCB®.

Pre-Approved New Activities

The PGP Committee reviews the handbook every two years to assure activities are in keeping with current practices. There are projects and activities submitted by candidates seeking recertification that are not included in the current edition of the handbook. These projects and activities were added by the committee and are now available in the 2008 handbook edition.