Current Officers

President Melanie Karner, BA, BSN, DNC, CWOCN
President Elect Vacant
Treasurer Leslie Whitney BS, RN, CWOCN
Secretary Dawn Pfluger
Past-President  
To contact us, please use our contact form.


Community Resource List for Ostomy Care (2023) - Special thanks to Cindy Shephard MSN, RN. CWOCN for providing this wonderful resource for the affiliate and our patients!


Welcome Members !

The Baltimore Affiliate continues to collaborate to provide fellow nurses, the community, and health care organizations with educational programs, volunteer work, and resources related to WOC nursing. We gladly welcome any health care professional to our meetings to discover the opportunities, benefits, clinical expertise, and the gratification of being a WOC nurse. Please contact us if you are interested!

Kindly,
Melanie
BA Affiliate President 2023


About Us

As an affiliate we have a great deal to offer our members:

The Baltimore Affiliate represents a diverse group of committed nurses certified in wound, ostomy, continence and foot care.  Our membership includes novice and expert WOC nurses with over 40 years of focused practice. Several WTA cohorts have been initiated by active Baltimore WOC Nurses.  A variety of practice settings are represented within our group including:

  • DME/Industry
  • Acute care
  • Home care
  • Rehabilitation/long term care

The Greater Baltimore Affiliate is involved in local ostomy support group leadership, CCFA, UOAA, and external mission trips.  Members are actively engaged at the regional level including officers, fundraising, educational functions, and WOC nursing policy. Focused interests include transitions in ostomy care, cultural implications for the WOC Nurse, and advancing the practice by “passing it forward” opportunities from our seasoned members.

Our Mission

The Greater Baltimore Affiliate of the WOCN Society advances the practice of wound, ostomy, and continence nursing by promoting the professional growth of our members through collaboration, communication, and advanced education with the goal of providing the highest standards of care for persons with wounds, ostomies or incontinence and their families/caregivers who support them.


News from the Baltimore Affiliate

Community Resource List for Ostomy Care 2023 | A list of local Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurses (WOCN) to use as a resource. In addition, there are a number of ostomy clinics in the area. Once discharged from the hospital, LTC, or home care, patients with ostomies are not alone and can contact a professional if they have future ostomy care needs.
Community Resource List for Ostomy Care 2023


The GBOA Board is pleased to announce that we will resume meetings in 2022, via ZOOM for now. (We are still working on a suitable venue for in-person meetings.

Cindy, Shontee and Alix
GBOA Board


Friends,

As an affiliated support group of the UOAA, the Greater Baltimore Ostomy Association is absolutely delighted to announce that we now have 20 certified visitors available to offer support to your patients who will have or have just had ostomy surgery. The purpose of the visit is to offer reassurance, help renew self-confidence and provide connections to community resources. There is truly no substitute for the visual proof provided by an individual who has learned to live well with an ostomy.

Visitors can meet your patient at home, in a mutually agreeable neutral location or in the hospital. (An understanding of HIPAA is part of the training.) We cover the metropolitan Baltimore area and surrounding counties, including Carroll and Anne Arundel. A telephone call is also an option.

Our visitors range in age from 37 to 60+. When requesting a visitor, please provide as much information as you can about the patient so we can match up a compatible visitor:

  • Name
  • Type of ostomy surgery
  • Sex
  • DOB
  • Hospital or general location
  • Single/married
  • Hobbies, interests or any specific concerns

Please note that if the visit is to take place in a hospital, the surgeon must consent to the visit.

Requests for visitors should be directed to Cindy Shephard, greaterbaltimoreostomyassoc@gmail.com or 443-840-7965.

We look forward to your referrals and the opportunity to provide this very valuable peer support!  click here for our Flyer

Kind regards,
Cindy
Cynthia Shephard, MSN, RN, CWOCN