WOC Nurses are often called upon to make recommendations to individuals or purchasing/procurement representatives regarding body worn absorbent products. While considered a containment strategy for incontinence, these products simultaneously impact skin integrity. The WOCN Society held a consensus conference to identify current clinical practice gaps and define standards of care for individuals using body worn absorbent products for the management of fecal and urinary incontinence. The goal of the consensus conference was to develop evidence and consensus based statements that result in the development of a manuscript and ultimately, an evidence-and-consensus-based decision support tool around this concept. In this episode of WOCTalk, we feature a discussion with four members of the consensus conference regarding their session at the WOCN Society’s 50th Annual Conference, “Setting the Standard for Body Worn Absorbent Products: Results of the WOCN Consensus Conference”.

To view the full conference session, “Setting the Standard for Body Worn Absorbent Products: Results of the WOCN Consensus Conference”, click here. Want to review more sessions from the WOCN® Society’s 50th Annual Conference? The full conference library is available for purchase. Choose from the entire package, or individual sessions here.

Speaker Bios

JoAnn Ermer-Seltun, MS, RN, ARNP, FNP-BC, CWOCN, CFCN - Nurse Practitioner, WEB WOC NEP; Mercy Medical Center Wound/Continence Clinic

JoAnn Ermer-Seltun is a certified Wound Ostomy Continence (WOC) Nurse and Family Nurse Practitioner at Mercy Medical Center Vascular Wound Center and Continence Clinic, Mason City, Iowa. She is Co-Director for the Metropolitan State University WEB WOC Nursing Education Program and an online instructor for incontinence since 2002. In addition, she is the past owner of Bladder Control Solutions, LLC that addressed continence issues in LTC (long term care).

JoAnn’s current focus is to improve the health and well-being of clients who suffer from chronic wounds, ostomy issues and urinary incontinence, with an emphasis on holistic incontinence care. She has developed educational programs, posters, journal articles and chapters on wound, ostomy, and urinary & fecal incontinence that are presented locally, as well as nationally.

Dr. Mikel Gray PhD, FNP, PNP, CUNP, CCCN, FAANP, FAAN - Professor, University of Virginia

Dr. Mikel Gray is a Professor with the Department of Urology, School of Medicine and Department of Acute and Specialty Care, School of Nursing at the University of Virginia. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing (JWOCN). He has published multiple books, chapters and articles in the field of neurological urology and urodynamic testing, wound, ostomy and continence nursing and urologic nursing. He has lectured on these topics nationally and across the globe.

Dr. Dea J. Kent DNP, RN, NP-C, CWOCN, QCP - Director, Community Health Network

Dr. Kent has practiced WOC Nursing for over 18 years. She currently serves as the Wound Section Editor for JWOCN, and has contributed to the WOC literature base, as well as authored chapters for several texts.

Laurie L. McNichol MSN, RN, CNS, GNP, CWOCN, CWON-AP, FAAN - Clincial Nurse Specialist/WOC Nurse, Cone Health

Laurie McNichol is a Clinical Nurse Specialist and Wound Ostomy and Continence Advanced Practice Nurse at Cone Health in Greensboro, North Carolina. Her 29 year career as a WOC Nurse has focused on the prevention and treatment of pressure injuries, the care of the ostomy patient with a focus on the prevention of peristomal skin complications, the identification and management of incontinence associated dermatitis, and most recently, the identification, prevention and treatment of medical adhesive related skin injuries. She co-edited a core curriculum textbook on wound care, and has authored a number of book chapters and journal articles on a variety of skin, wound and ostomy related topics. She has served as an invited speaker at nursing conferences in Brazil, Australia, South Korea, the UK and China as well as numerous venues throughout the United States.

An experienced nurse and nurse leader, McNichol served as the President of the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing Certification Board (WOCNCB), President of the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses SocietyTM (WOCN®) and President of the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP). She continues to be active in these groups leading special projects. She has worked clinically in both the acute and home care settings. Laurie is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.