“Where Are the Young Wound Clinicians?”: Addressing the Workforce Gap
An editorial published in *Journal of Wound Care* (online July 8, 2024) raises urgent concern about the dwindling number of early-career clinicians entering the wound-care field, exploring implications for education, succession planning, and patient outcomes.
Key Highlights:
- Aging Workforce: The current cohort of experienced wound clinicians is nearing retirement, with few younger professionals stepping in to fill the void.
- Training Barriers: Educational programs—such as wound-specific training, fellowships, and certification pathways—are scarce, limiting access to formalized learning and mentorship.
- Perception & Awareness: Many early-career providers remain unaware of wound care as a viable subspecialty. The field lacks visibility in medical and nursing curricula.
- Patient Access Threats: Without a robust pipeline of new clinicians, there’s a real risk of diminished wound-care access for patients—potentially leading to delays in healing and higher complication rates.
- Strategic Solutions: Suggestions include embedding wound-care rotations in training programs, creating formal fellowships, promoting WCC and CWCN certifications, and improving interdisciplinary collaboration.
This editorial highlights a critical juncture: without proactive efforts to attract and train new clinicians, the wound-care field faces a future workforce shortage that may impact quality of care and patient outcomes.
Based on “Where are the young wound clinicians?”, *Journal of Wound Care*, published online July 8, 2024.
Keywords: wound clinician workforce, training programs, succession planning, mentorship, workforce shortage