My Scope of Practice: Educating in a New Role

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence. — Vince Lombardi

  In 2003, Janet M. Davis, MSN, RN, GNP-BC, CWOCN, stepped away from direct patient care and into the role of full-time educator. Although she misses the patient interaction, Janet knows her reach of care is far greater now. As a clinical consultant and educator for 3M Health Care (St. Paul, MN), she continues to help people, just in a different way, by providing information and education to all levels of clinicians, from nursing assistants to physicians.   Janet attended the University of St. Thomas in Houston, TX, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1984. During that time, she worked while a professional nursing student in a number of different Houston-area facilities, including the Methodists Hospital and St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital. After graduating, Janet found a full-time position as a critical care nurse at St. Luke’s. She worked there for nearly 7 years before deciding to become a WOC nurse.

   “My deciding to go to WOC school is a funny story,” Janet says. “I was working as a critical care nurse and struggling with a patient’s draining wound for 8 hours of my 12-hour shift. Someone mentioned calling the ET nurse, Charlene Randall. Within about 10 minutes, she fixed the problem. I was stunned and curious to know what she knew. I joined her Skin Care Team, and the rest is history.”

  Janet completed her Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nursing Education at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in 1991. With a new passion for wound, ostomy, and continence nursing, Janet began working at both St. Luke’s and the MD Anderson Cancer Center as a hospital-based WOC nurse. In 1996, she returned to school and earned her Masters of Science in Nursing from the University of Texas Houston Health Science Center. From 1997 to 2003, Janet practiced as a WOC nurse and gerontological nurse practitioner in nursing homes, hospitals, and physician offices.

  Janet got her foot in the education side of healthcare through the Wound Ostomy Continence Nurses (WOCN) Society, of which she has been a member since 1992. In 2003, she decided to put direct patient care on the back burner and work on educating her peers at the WOC education program, an experience that allowed her to shape the quality of care clinicians provided their patients. She was a program director of the WOCN education program from 2003 to 2008. Besides developing a passion for education, Janet also gained professional connections and skills that have stayed with her throughout her career. “The WOCN has served me well professionally — through resources to assist my patients — and personally to develop more leadership skills,” she says. Today, at 3M, she continues to instruct clinicians on how to provide the best care — an especially difficult task, given the short lengths of stays most patients have at hospitals.

   “Providing optimal care is always challenging when length of stays are so short and patient needs are great,” Janet says. “Wound care is not always seen as important, so my hope is that clinicians and patients will benefit from using quality products.” Working at 3M has allowed her to promote the products she believes can help patients with their problems. “Our products are more active with longer wear time, reducing the frequency of dressing changes so other critical interventions can be carried out,” she says.

  Since becoming a WOCN member, Janet has been active on both the regional and national levels. She previously has served as secretary, vice-president, and president of her regional chapter, and she is currently serving as South Central regional president for a second time. Janet also was a member of the nominating committee for the national WOCN, as well as on the National Conference Planning Committee.

  When her term as program director with the WOCN ended, Janet continued her involvement with the clinicians she educated. “I love educating others on wound management,” she says. “Many graduates of the WOCN education program are now customers and colleagues. These clinicians are providing quality care in wound, ostomy, and continence nursing and affecting healthcare systems for the better.”

  Although one of Janet’s biggest challenges moving to the industry side of healthcare was losing direct interaction with patients, she believes her work continues to improve the quality of life of patients throughout the world. “I get to witness clinicians’ successes and feel like I positively influence patient care. What I can do isn’t always visible, but when you are told, ‘I know what to do because of the education you (I) provided me,’ that makes your day.”

  Janet sees her role evolving to focus more on education in long-term and less on acute care settings, but regardless she hopes that “education will continue to be valued in all settings.”

  The future — both for Janet and the provision of healthcare—may be uncertain, but one thing is sure: education will remain a priority in Janet’s scope of practice.

This article was not subject to the Ostomy Wound Management peer-review process.