Back to Your Nursing Roots: Cultivate the Next Ostomy Specialists

Resources: Sign up to “Go Back to Your Roots” and use your expertise to inspire current nursing students by sharing your gratifying role as a certified ostomy nurse. You’ll get access to an official toolkit to help you start planting seeds. Visit the UOAA website at ostomy.org for additional ostomy information. About the Speakers Jeanine Gleba, as the Director of Advocacy for the United Ostomy Associations of America (UOAA), awareness and advocates for those who have had or who will have ostomy or continent diversion surgery. Jeanine has her Masters degree in Education and over 19 years of experience of grassroots organizing including spearheading the efforts behind the successful passage of a New Jersey law named for her daughter Grace, which benefits thousands of NJ children who have hearing loss. She is an award-winning advocate most recently being honored as the recipient of UOAA’s President Award in 2023. Jeanine believes in giving back to her community and has served in numerous roles including as an elected official: Deputy Mayor/Councilwoman for six years. She currently serves on the Digestive Disease National Coalition as Immediate Past Chairperson, and the NJ Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Advisory Committee as a Public Member. Jeanine is passionate about inspiring others to self-advocate and make a positive change in their own lives, as well as in the lives of others. Joanne Burgess, BSN, RN, CWOCN, has served in multiple care settings during her career including acute care, outpatient ostomy services, and industry. She has been an active leader within the United Ostomy Associations of America (UOAA), serving two years on the Board of Directors and nearly a decade as co-chair of the Advocacy Committee. Joanna helped create the Back to Your Nursing Roots project, a partnering project with the WOCN® Society. Her vision was driven by the national shortage of ostomy nurses and her commitment to inspiring nurses to enter the WOC specialty. She also has played a key role in developing the Ostomy and Continent Diversion Patient Bill of Rights (PBOR). A dual ostomate—living with a urostomy since age three and a colostomy since early adulthood—Joanna brings both clinical expertise and lived experience to her lifelong advocacy for high quality ostomy care and patient empowerment. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.

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Back to Your Nursing Roots: Cultivate the Next Ostomy Specialists is an episode from WOCTalk by WOCN Society.

This episode is 00:44:35 long.

This episode was published on Apr 7, 2026.

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