2014 Nurse of the Year

CeCe Rund, BSN, RN, CWOCN

CeCe Rund, BSN, RN, CWOCNNomination information:

This nominee for the WOC Nurse of the Year Award has been a nurse for 44 years and a WOCN for 30 years.  Her career started in Baltimore working at St. Agnes hospital in SICU, Pediatrics, and Med/Surg and CCU.  She became the charge nurse.  Sadly, early in her marriage, her husband passed, leaving her to raise their very young daughter.  She then went to work at North Charles Hospital for the next twenty years, during which she received the Nurse of the Year Award and became a certified ET/WOCN in 1985.    

In 1991, this nurse started working at Johns Hopkins Geriatrics as the CWOCN and again won the Nurse of the Year Award.  There she set up a true pressure ulcer prevention program before many facilities recognized the importance of pressure ulcer prevention, and she educated nursing assistants on basic wound care.  At both North Charles Hopsital and Johns Hopkins Geriatrics Center, she worked with surgeons and physician specialists to develop wound and skin care and prevention protocols.  She also worked with the nurse education department to set up education for both nurse specialists and PA’s who wanted training and education in ostomy and wound care.  Of note is the busy continence program that she ran at North Charles Hospital.  She also started one of the first chemo outpatient clinics in Baltimore at North Charles Hospital. 

For many years, this nurse worked for a major manufacturer of wound care products as a CWOCN Nurse Educator and consultant, working with sales reps in hospitals, long term care, and home health care east of the Mississippi.  Her responsibilities included setting up protocols for skin and wound care, education for wound care and pressure ulcer prevention programs for the many facilities that did not have formal protocols or educational programs, and unbiased consultations related to wound care.  She was instrumental in assisting other nurses in attending CWOCN programs to become a WOCN. 

In 2004 the nominee transitioned into sales for the same company and had numerous accomplishments including:

  • Rookie of the Year Award
  • Hero Award for helping and educating others within the company, providing sales reps with tools based upon current literature to show them how to sell an appropriate product for the appropriate setting
  • The President’s Challenge five times for advanced wound care sales
  • Exceeded quota sales all years except one
  • Lectured nurses on skin/wound care issues in Australia, New Zealand, and Denmark

This nurse has numerous publications to her credit.  Among those are:

  • Author and co-author of articles for Ostomy/Wound Management including:
    • “Alternative Wound Therapies”
    • “Care of a Post Myocutaneous Flap patient”
    • “Malignant Cutaneous Wounds; A Management Protocol
  • Co-author for 2002 International Journal of Palliative Nursing article: “Malignant Cutaneous Wounds: Developing Education for Hospice, Oncology and Wound Care Nurses”
  • Contributing Editor to the Chronic Wound Care book series first edition (1990), second edition (1997), third edition (2001), fourth edition (2007)
  • And many other articles

Throughout her career, this nurse has been very active and supportive of WOCN practice.  Early in her practice, she set up the ET board in Baltimore during Nurses’ Week, and later attended the NIWI program, chaired the Baltimore WOCN meetings, participated in and arranged local educational programs, and was a speaker at our Mid-Atlantic WOCN programs on Lower Leg Ulcers and compression wraps. 

Professionally this nurse has been:

  • President of the Baltimore WOCN Affiliate
  • Secretary of the Mid-Atlantic WOCN Region
  • President of the Mid-Atlantic WOCN Region, 2004 to 2006
  • Chaired various local and regional committees
  • Board of Directors member of AAWC, 2002 to 2003
  • Member of the Board of the United Ostomy Association
  • Local UOA volunteer
  • Poster presenter on numerous occasions for both WOCN and AAWC.  Won second place at the AAWC poster exhibits in 1996 under “Wound Care Programs Educational Tools Classification Systems”
  • Regular attendee of both regional and national WOCN conferences. 

This nurse has had health issues the past few years which caused her to retire in 2013 but she still sees wound and ostomy patients, without charge, in doctor’s offices when there is an immediate need and refers them out to one of the clinics for follow up if indicated.  She also answers questions by phone from ostomy patients who are no longer in home care and need assistance.   She has shared her experiences on the MAR website to help her colleagues understand health care from a patient perspective.  She has kept a positive attitude throughout her ordeal and is a source of inspiration.  She truly deserves this year’s Mid-Atlantic WOC Nurse of the Year Award.