The National Alliance of Wound Care and Ostomy (NAWCO) has announced the first professional credential to recognize clinical expertise in advanced wound care at the 2019 Wild On Wounds (WOW) national conference in Las Vegas, USA.
According to a statement, the new Advanced Wound Care Certified (AWCC) credential validates the higher-level knowledge and skills required to use today’s advanced wound therapies, such as negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), biologic skin equivalents, and hyperbaric oxygen treatments.
For clinicians who have previously earned NAWCO’s Wound Care Certification (WCC), or other eligible wound certifications, achieving the AWCC credential is said to offer an additional opportunity to elevate their organisations’ wound care programmes and develop their own careers.
“Until now, most wound management certifications have stressed a broad command of skin and wound care principles,” said Cindy Broadus, executive director of NAWCO. “With healthcare facilities demanding more clinical mastery in advanced wound care, the new AWCC program will supercharge certificants’ professional growth in this arena.”
The pathway to the AWCC credential includes rigorous education and experience requirements, as well as the passing of an exam. Anna Gable Mackie became the first clinician to earn the certification on September 5, 2019, while five other candidates received passing scores on the AWCC exam at the 2019 Wild On Wounds (WOW) national conference in Las Vegas to join Mackie as the first cohort of AWCC clinicians.
The candidates satisfied the education requirement through an online course provided by Healiant, Inc. that met the criteria established by the NAWCO certification committee.
