Do you dream of sharing your nursing professional development (NPD) best practice or project findings at the next ANPD Aspire Convention, but aren’t sure how to begin writing an abstract to submit? Now is the time to stop dreaming and start writing, because the call for abstracts for ANPD’s 2025 Aspire Convention opens on May 20, 2024! 

ANPD seeks abstracts for presentations that allow convention attendees an opportunity to learn from their colleagues’ expertise and share in advocacy for the NPD specialty. Once you are ready to share your work with your NPD colleagues at convention, it’s time to start writing your abstract.

Background on ANPD’s Abstract Process

An abstract is a summarization of something larger (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). ANPD Aspire Convention abstracts are condensed summaries of a project, best practice, quality improvement, or research that convey the inputs, throughputs, and outputs of your NPD work. After submission, ANPD Aspire Convention abstracts are peer-reviewed and scored by the ANPD Content Planning Committee. Ultimately, selected abstracts are then expanded to their full versions as posters or podium presentations at convention.

Each year, the Aspire Convention Content Planning Committee works to assess and optimize the abstract submission and review process. Continual improvement is an important component of Standard 6, Evaluation, as outlined in Nursing Professional Development Scope & Standards of Practice, 4^th Ed. (Harper & Maloney, 2022). For example, the Committee recognized the important updates made to the 4^th edition of the NPD Scope & Standards text, with the addition of Standard 9: Respectful and Equitable Practice. Inclusion of this standard was an added component of the 2024 Aspire Convention and its abstract submission. Leveraging the experience of the committee’s work with the 2024 abstract review, soliciting feedback from previous abstract submitters, and reflecting as abstract scorers, we sought to further evolve for the 2025 Aspire abstract process. This year, you’ll see an expanded abstract body section, and a change from character count to word count limits, allowing submitters to further expand on their work than in prior years’ submissions. You’ll also see the sessions have been renamed to use plain, inclusive language: pathways are now concurrent sessions and rapid fires are now microlearning sessions. Additionally, ANPD is using a new submission portal to streamline the experience for both the submitters and peer reviewers. All of these initiatives align with ANPD’s effort to align the 2025 Aspire Convention with industry standards, best practices, and ensure the convention meets the needs of attendees.

To support future abstract submitters in preparing and submitting stellar abstracts, the 2025 ANPD Content Planning Committee presents five tips for a compelling ANPD Aspire Convention abstract submission. 

5 Tips for a Successful Abstract Submission

1. Hook the reader! The title and description should grab the reviewer’s attention, pique their curiosity, and get them excited to keep reading. Effective ways to hook the reader can include humor, themes, emotional catch, or intrigue—there is no limit to the creativity that can be used. The abstract reviewers are looking for something that will stir their interest and promises an engaging presentation. With future convention goers in mind, reviewers are also looking for the abstract title and description to accurately describe the presentation itself. Imagine future convention attendees reading your title and description and thinking, “Wow, I can’t miss this one!”
2. Follow the submission guidelines. ANPD provides a 2025 Call for Abstracts Guide that provides step-by-step instructions for completing the abstract submission, giving you an inside track to what reviewers will be looking for when scoring abstracts. Use professional, plain language to highlight the facts of your abstract and remove any extraneous verbiage. Being concise allows clarity of your presentation’s purpose and streamlines the abstract to fit the guidelines. Your abstract should provide reviewers a clear understanding of the main points, acting in essence as an elevator speech for what you intend to share in your presentation. Eliminate organizational jargon such as job titles that may not translate to the external reader. Pay attention to word counts, spelling, and grammar. Then, review and revise. It is strongly encouraged to have a colleague review the abstract to check for general understanding and flow, as well as spelling and grammatical errors.
3. Avoid author or organization identification. Each abstract submission undergoes a blinded review by committee peer reviewers.  Each year, dozens of submitted abstracts never make it to the scoring phase because they contain the submitter’s name(s) or their organization’s name within the unblinded portions of the abstract, such as the abstract body, and are therefore rejected. Make sure identifying information is not included, such as your name or organization’s name, anywhere in the submission. The only exception is where this information is specifically asked for in the “About You” section of the abstract submission, where you will submit presenter names and employer information in specific fields. These submission fields are not viewable by reviewing committee members.
4. Include data and your return on investment (ROI). The data you include in your abstract submission provides insight into the results of your presented work to reviewers and future convention attendees. Sharing the ROI demonstrates the economic impact of the project outcomes to the reviewers and convention audience. When presenting qualitative data, identify themes, impact, generalizability, and value. Having this information strengthens the abstract and shows the value that your work can bring to others and the NPD specialty as a whole. If you do not have data at the time of submission, describe both what data are planned to collect and what you expect for results.
5. Understand and incorporate the NPD Scope & Standards of Practice into the abstract. Abstract scoring is structured around the NPD Practice Model and the Scope & Standards. The abstract reviewers want to know that the submitter understands the NPD practice standards and competencies and can provide substance that is meaningful and relevant to the ANPD Aspire Convention audience across many practice settings. Have your standards accessible to refer to as you write the abstract and use keywords to link your work to them.

Many abstracts are received each year and selection is highly competitive, with over 400 abstracts received for the 2024 convention. Following the guidelines and these tips increase your chances of submitting a successful abstract.  The 2025 Aspire Convention Content Planning Committee looks forward to reading each abstract submitted to continue the spread of NPD knowledge! 

References:

Harper, M. G., & Maloney, P. (2022). Nursing professional development: Scope and standards of practice (4th ed.). Association for Nursing Professional Development

Harper, M. G., & StCyr, S. (2020). From rough to polished: Writing a stellar abstract [webinar]. Association for Nursing Professional Development

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.) Abstract. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved May 5, 2024, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abstract

Opperman, C., Liebig, D., Bowling, J., Johnson, C. S., Stiesmeyer, J., & Miller, S. (2022). Measuring return on investment for professional development activities: Literature update and the ongoing challenge. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 38(6), 333-339, DOI: 10.1097/NND.0000000000000921