This Core Program will continue to provide the necessary resources, supporting documentation and strategies to respond to internal and external influences that impact the association. This may require communicating solutions to address issues at a local, regional and national level. Please contact the Board with any ideas that you may have in the area public relations for our members. Portfolios: Improving specialized care in wound, ostomy & continence

Key Highlights

• Attended the monthly Ostomy Canada and NSWOCC joint Advocacy meetings and the Ontario ADP Advocacy Task Force meetings

• Continued to advocate to the Ontario Ministry of Health advocating for better ostomy reimbursement through the Assistive Devices Program (ADP)

• Met with the Manager of ADP October 11/22 to discuss rationale behind increasing the reimbursement of ostomy supplies

• Provided guidance and support to NSWOCs facing potential declassification in a large group of acute care facilities in Hamilton, Ontario resulting in the immediate cessation of declassification of the NSWOC as having Nurse Clinician status.

• Disability Tax Credit (DTC) initiative to get the DTC Form change in the category of elimination to acknowledge NSWOCs as certifiers of the form. The DTC Disability Advisory Committee has agreed to meet in the near future.

• Held the Nova Scotia Wound, Ostomy and Continence Summit on September 22, 2022, which was funded by a patient with some support from Industry partners.

La communauté francophone de pratique vise à facilité l'accessibilité et le partage d'informations professionnelles parmi les membres des ISPSCC partout au Canada, dans le but de favoriser la prise en charge des patients issus de la minorité francophone partout au pays.

Projets en cours:

Recommandations des meilleures pratiques pour les soins des gastrostomies

Projets en constante demande: révision des documents traduits de l'anglais vers le français.

The French Community of Practice aims to facilitate the accessibility and sharing of professional information among NSWOCC members across Canada, with the goal of promoting the care of Francophone minority patients across the country. 

Current projects: 

Best Practice Recommendations for Gastrostomy Care 

Projects in constant demand: revision of documents translated from English to French.

In order to meet the needs of underrepresented populations who may be experiencing wound, ostomy and or continence issues, NSWOCC has launched this Core Program in fall 2023, and is led by wo NSWOCs with active experience rooted in harm reduction, Priyanka (she/her) and Lili (they/them).

Harm reduction refers to policies, programs and practices that have a goal to minimise the negative health, social and legal impacts associated with drug use, drug policies and drug laws. Harm reduction is grounded in justice and human rights and focuses on positive change and on working with people without judgement, coercion, discrimination, or requiring that people stop using drugs as a precondition of support.

This inclusion should and can extend to NSWOC practice and clients, we must make our efforts to build shared value in our community and develop our teams to be a community asset.

In order to meet the needs of underrepresented populations who may be experiencing wound, ostomy and or continence issues, NSWOCC has launched this Core Program in fall 2023, and is led by wo NSWOCs with active experience rooted in harm reduction, Priyanka (she/her) and Lili (they/them).

Harm reduction refers to policies, programs and practices that have a goal to minimise the negative health, social and legal impacts associated with drug use, drug policies and drug laws. Harm reduction is grounded in justice and human rights and focuses on positive change and on working with people without judgement, coercion, discrimination, or requiring that people stop using drugs as a precondition of support.

This inclusion should and can extend to NSWOC practice and clients, we must make our efforts to build shared value in our community and develop our teams to be a community asset.

This Core Program is focused on improving the lives of Indigenous people in the areas of wound, ostomy and continence care. This group looks at the accessibility to NSWOCs, SWANs and WOC supplies to ensure the best possible care.

Key Highlights

• Seven meetings have been held since January 2022.

• We have been working with the University of Toronto’s KITE Research Center providing input on the development of sensor socks to identify pressure points on the foot and that could lead to a future project on creating culturally appropriate footwear for Indigenous peoples with diabetes. This work includes applying for grant funding and KITE collaborating with Vee Tech and Sona Group of India, to develop smart fabric-based wearables that could be customized to be culturally relevant.

• We continue to work on having disposable negative pressure wound therapy covered by Non-insured Health Benefits (NIHB). We hope to get a response from NIHB before the end of the year.

• Michelle Buffalo, RN, BScN, NSWOC, WOCC (C), Jer Caul, RN, BScN MClSc AHCP WH, CDE and Bev Smith, RN, BScN, NSWOC gave a presentation at the May 2022 NSWOCC National conference entitled, “Equitable Healthcare for Indigenous People”. Bev and Michelle conducted a role play during this presentation to demonstrate the challenges patients face when being discharged from a hospital into an indigenous community. This presentation is available in video format at www.sharingcircle.online

• Our Indigenous Wound, Ostomy and Continence Core Program supported awarding a full scholarship to an Indigenous Nurse who graduated from the WOC-EP Program at the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Institute. Congratulations to Kaylee Irving who was the recipient of this award. This scholarship was generously funded by 7Generations Medical.

• Congratulations to Michelle Buffalo, RN, BScN, NSWOC, WOCC (C) of Wetaskwin, Alberta who was awarded the Ostomy Canada Society scholarship in May 2022, for excellence in ostomy care.

This Core Program is focused on improving the lives of Indigenous people in the areas of wound, ostomy and continence care. This group looks at the accessibility to NSWOCs, SWANs and WOC supplies to ensure the best possible care.

Key Highlights

• Seven meetings have been held since January 2022.

• We have been working with the University of Toronto’s KITE Research Center providing input on the development of sensor socks to identify pressure points on the foot and that could lead to a future project on creating culturally appropriate footwear for Indigenous peoples with diabetes. This work includes applying for grant funding and KITE collaborating with Vee Tech and Sona Group of India, to develop smart fabric-based wearables that could be customized to be culturally relevant.

• We continue to work on having disposable negative pressure wound therapy covered by Non-insured Health Benefits (NIHB). We hope to get a response from NIHB before the end of the year.

• Michelle Buffalo, RN, BScN, NSWOC, WOCC (C), Jer Caul, RN, BScN MClSc AHCP WH, CDE and Bev Smith, RN, BScN, NSWOC gave a presentation at the May 2022 NSWOCC National conference entitled, “Equitable Healthcare for Indigenous People”. Bev and Michelle conducted a role play during this presentation to demonstrate the challenges patients face when being discharged from a hospital into an indigenous community. This presentation is available in video format at www.sharingcircle.online

• Our Indigenous Wound, Ostomy and Continence Core Program supported awarding a full scholarship to an Indigenous Nurse who graduated from the WOC-EP Program at the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Institute. Congratulations to Kaylee Irving who was the recipient of this award. This scholarship was generously funded by 7Generations Medical.

• Congratulations to Michelle Buffalo, RN, BScN, NSWOC, WOCC (C) of Wetaskwin, Alberta who was awarded the Ostomy Canada Society scholarship in May 2022, for excellence in ostomy care.

The new Membership Core Program will bring together a group of NSWOCC Members to engage, discuss membership benefits and the member experience within the association and create a plan to drive positive change.

Key Priorities

• Continuing Education

• Continue to advance NSWOC knowledge and proficiency

• Support the National Office and other Core Programs in offering continuing education opportunities

• Communication & Awareness of NSWOCC Activity

• Increase communication from the Board of Directors more directly to members

• Provide more updates on association & Core Program activities and initiatives

• Meet the Networking and Collaboration needs of NSWOCC Members across Canada

• Mentorship

• Accommodate members from each time zone

We are still looking for members from Atlantic Canada and Québec to join our Core Program; if you're interested in getting involved, please email office@nswoc.ca.

One of many objectives that will be highlighted at the conference is to showcase NSWOC’s as leaders in wound, ostomy and continence care. NSWOCC Conferences are an excellent place to network and meeting new colleagues. During the summer there were opportunities to submit oral abstract presentations.

The Paediatric Community of Practice  guides the key activities related to paediatric wound, ostomy and continence management within NSWOCC and beyond. The Paediatric Community of Practice may also be called upon to provide feedback to  the NSWOCC Board of Directors on matters of Paediatric wound, ostomy and continence care.

The Paediatric Community of Practice:

• creates a national network of NSWOCs who are working in or who have an interest in Paediatric wound, ostomy and/or continence management

• provides council and perform due diligence on Paediatric related wound, ostomy and continence initiatives within NSWOCC.

• develops on-going paediatric wound, ostomy and continence strategic activities that align with the NSWOCC strategic mission.

• identifies areas for improvement in specialized wound, ostomy and continence paediatric care.

Debra leads this Core Program developing professional growth opportunities to facilitate the provision, maintenance and recording of knowledge, and clinical skills related to the scope of NSWOC professional practice including “Best Practice Recommendations:” There will be opportunities for NSWOCC members to get involved in this Core Program by answering the calls for volunteers, or by contacting Debra about future opportunities at office@nswoc.ca. 

Portfolios: Ethics, Professional Growth, Certification, Mentorship/website, Position Papers, Best Practice Recommendations.

This Core program focuses on providing opportunities for publication in the JWOCN and the NSWOC Advance.

This Core Program develops evidence based Best Practice Recommendations, supports literature searches for all NSWOCC projects and identifies potential research projects for NSWOCC. Portfolios: Research, Best Practice Recommendations

This Core Program will be implementing and developing unique strategies to market the SWAN role as a critical team members within the Canadian healthcare system. This core program is open to SWAN Graduates and RPN/LPN who have an interest in skin health.

Key Highlights

• The SWAN Community of Practice (COP) was re-launched March 2022

• Terms of reference for this SWAN Community of Practice were developed

• The following goals were discussed during the monthly meetings with the participants. We will:

• be working to build awareness of the SWAN role - it is important that we establish an identity for SWANs. This will include developing some tools to assist communicating who SWANs are and the role that they play within the team.

• improve communication among the group. A SWAN Facebook page has been set up and we encourage all SWANs to join - email office@nswoc.ca to get connected

• work to build a SWAN mentorship program - we will be working on defining what this will look like

• have a vision to launch a SWAN educational stream at the 2023 NSWOCC National conference which will be taking place May 3 to 7, 2023 at the Westin Ottawa. SWAN COP members provided input to this educational stream, and it has been integrated into the national conference education program for 2023. Thank you to all who contributed the ideas for topics and speakers.

• set a date to have a “SWAN Day” – which will be a day set to recognize and celebrate SWANs for their work in skin health. This day will be selected starting in 2023.