Atlanta’s Northside Hospital has a new award under its belt following the 2023 WOCNext Conference in Las Vegas. The Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing Certification Board bestowed the facility with the 2023 Employer Recognition Award, an honor granted to health care professionals that have demonstrated exemplary support in the certification process for wound, ostomy or continence (WOC) nursing.

“This recognition validates the incredible commitment and dedicated focus our clinical teams have to provide quality care to our patients,” Northside Hospital chief nursing officer Janis Dubow said in a news release. “We are proud of the many Northside Hospital nurses who achieve national specialty certifications, and we are honored to receive this award.”

Northside Hospital joins a prestigious list of honored medical facilities as only the second Georgia-based health care system to be recognized for the Employer Recognition Award. Rome’s Floyd Medical Center is the only other Georgia-based center to be honored, having won the award in 2015.

Founded in 1978, the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing Certification Board is a non-for-profit nursing organization that certifies over 9,000 registered nurse specialists in the fields of wound, ostomy, continence and foot care. An international organization, the WOCNCB certifies health care professionals in the U.S., Canada, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe.

The WOCNCB offers certification preparation tools and guidance online for all registered nurses interested in becoming certified.

“I would like to invite you to take a few moments to look through our website,” WOCNCB president Jessica Simmons, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, CWON, DNC, said in a statement. “You will find resources about becoming certified through the traditional pathway as well as through the experiential pathway. We offer a downloadable Candidate Exam Handbook, which provides comprehensive information about the exam process, eligibility, and the exam content outline. You can find exam preparation tools that best suit your needs including mobile app flash card sets, a self-assessment exam, as well as links to other resources.”