Seeking Poster Presenters for our 1^st annual Poster Hall. Poster Presenters are eligible for a $50 discount on conference registration. Abstracts due 9/15/2023 to NCRregistration@outlook.com (Check the Abstract Guidelines below)

The NCR of the WOCN society has put a resource together to encourage continued education and growth. These include general education, wound, vascular, podiatry, and ostomy. You can view them here.

Get to know our members!  Quarterly snippets about fellow North Central members from around our region.

In 2018, Kasia Virgell started work as a Nursing Specialist in Infection Prevention/Wound, Ostomy and Continence for the Central Wisconsin Center (CWC).  CWC is a state facility that provides short-term and residential services to individuals with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities.  According to Kasia “My dual role allows me to develop, implement and consult on all infection and containment issues throughout the facility, as well as provide consultation with recommendations for all wound, ostomy and continence issues”.

Kasia successfully achieved her CWOCN (Certified Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurse) on January 19, 2020.  Kasia attended the WEBWOC Nursing Education Program and felt fortunate to have a variety of unique experiences for her clinical hours.  She precepted in wound care at St Vincent Hospital Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine in Green Bay and completed her continence and ostomy clinical hours UW Health University Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin

Kasia is responsible for many different initiatives at CWC but reports that her most successful initiative to date has been educating her staff on appropriate and proper use of an internal fecal management system (FMS) to manage extreme cases of incontinence associated dermatitis.  From Kasia, “This policy was prompted by the resident who developed difficult to heal IAD due to urinary and fecal incontinence and I saw no other way than to introduce the FMS and give the resident’s skin time to heal. It worked like a charm. This was also the first time where the nurses voiced their appreciation for my role and WOC knowledge within our facility.”

Kasia is pleased to report that another of her achievements at CWC is the creation of a Wound and Skin Workgroup.  CWC is made up of 7 different living units and therefore, the nurse knowledge and product use can be different dependent on the unit.   A nurse from each of the different living units will be represented within the workgroup to bring more cohesion to all of their practice.  Kasia was also excited to be able to attend the regional fall conference this year and was the lucky winner of a free registration to next year’s event as well as a credit to the WOCN bookstore.  Kasia is excited to continue to connect with fellow WOC nurses.  She has certainly made a huge impact on the nurses within her facility in a very short time!

We sponsored Brianna for Youth Rally.

View Letter From Youth Rally | View Rally Details | Brianna’s Thank You Letter

North Central Region’s Dollars at Work!

In addition to annual educational scholarships, your region’s dollars go to fund great things such as assisting with youth rally funding. Click here to read about the youth rally and appreciative letters from the CFO and a youth rally camper!

Click here to learn about member benefits and join or renew your membership!

• Please check out the listing of the new officers for the region. Just click on the “Board Members” link in the top menu.

The North Central Region consists of Wisconsin, Minnesota, North and South Dakota.