WOCNCB Announces NIWI Scholarship Winner

Feb. 14, 2011 - PRLog -- As part of the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing Certification Board's (WOCNCB®) mission to promote the highest standard of consumer care and safety, the WOCNCB is pleased to announce the winner of its second annual WOCNCB Scholarship to the Nurse in Washington Internship (NIWI). The winner is Linda R. Droste, RN, MSN, CWOCN, of Richmond, VA.  

“The experience, enthusiasm and passion of every scholarship applicant made the selection of our scholarship winner a challenge,” says Diana Gallagher, RN MS CWOCN CFCN, president of the WOCNCB. “However, Linda’s application stood out because of her work as a Veteran’s Association employee, volunteer involvement at the VA and WOCN Society, and because of her proven communication abilities as a writer and presenter. We look forward to Linda applying knowledge she gains at NIWI to positively influence the delivery and reimbursement of healthcare for the specialties of wound, ostomy, continence care and foot care.”  

Linda adds, “I have been a nurse for 32 years and I still believe that we need to get excited about what we do and who we are. We can only do this if we are knowledgeable and informed. As nurses we cannot and should not sit back and wait for someone to tell us how to vote or how to think. We need to stand up and be active within our professional organizations. It is through this continued sharing of knowledge and ideas that we will be able to make a difference in our future.”

The WOCNCB sponsors the scholarship to NIWI in order to empower the scholarship winner to participate in important dialogs about patient care and healthcare reform with at the local, state and national levels. The scholarship includes internship registration, travel to Washington, D.C., lodging expenses and a modest stipend.  The annual scholarship is open to any current WOCNCB-certified nurse who is not currently serving on the WOCNCB board of directors.

The Nurse in Washington Internship is an annual project of the Nursing Organizations Alliance (www.nursing-alliance.org) designed to inform nurses about the legislative process. The 2011 program takes place March 13 through 15, 2011.

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About WOCNCB
The Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing Certification Board is a professional, non-profit, 501 (c) (6) organization dedicated to providing consumer safety and protection by offering credentialing in the areas of wound, ostomy, continence and foot care nursing to registered nurses who meet WOCNCB’s stringent qualifications and pass its certification examination. WOCNCB certified nurses provide quality care to patients in a variety of settings, including hospitals, long-term care facilities, and home healthcare. WOCNCB has certified more than 6,100 registered nurses worldwide. WOCNCB’s wound, ostomy and continence certifications are accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies, a program of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE), and the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification, formerly the accreditation committee of the American Board of Specialty Nursing (ABNS).