The COCN is the nursing certification for certified ostomy care nurses. The credentialing board for this exam is the Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurse Board (WOCN). The WOCN developed the exam to enhance and encourage nurses to continue their professional development and increase the quality of care in ostomy nursing. While nursing schools teach the basics of wound, ostomay and continence care, certification indicates a much higher level of knowledge and skills.
Earning a COCN Certification
To be qualified to take the COCN exam, the applicant must be a registered nurse with a BSN degree and must have completed a WOCN-approved educational track. Alternatively, he/she may have completed a graduate-level educational program that contained the equivalent of two semester hours in ostomy nursing care. A third option is to have fifty CEU’s in ostomy nursing care and 1,500 practice hours in ostomy nursing care. These requirements must have been met in the last five years before application. In the year immediately before application, the nurse must have accrued 375 hours of clinical ostomy nursing care.
The COCN is computer based and given quarterly at selected testing sites across the country. The exam contains 80 questions upon which the candidate’s score is based, and 10 questions, which are being tested and validated for possible use in future CNOR exams. These ten questions are not counted in arriving at the candidate’s score. The candidate is allowed a total of ninety minutes for completion of the exam. Scores are then immediately available to the candidate. The CNOR credentials are good for a period of five years.
Recertification of the COCN credentials may be accomplished by retaking the COCN examination, or by submission of a professional growth portfolio. To qualify to recertify by this method you must not have taken and failed the COCN examination and your certification must still be active. The candidate accumulates 80 points by participating in selected professional-growth activities and programs. Ten of the eighty points must come from continuing education units directly related to ostomy care. Forty of the total points accumulated must relate directly to the practice of ostomy nursing. The other half of the points do not have to be directly relative to ostomy nursing, but must have an impact on WOCN practice.
The candidate handbook is offered for download free of charge from the board’s website. It details the necessary qualifications, the testing process, and contains sample questions and a test outline. Also included is a suggested list of study references. The candidate should consult the handbook frequently throughout the certification process and use the study resources to plan and direct study needs.