Congress Abstracts 2005

66

DEVISING A CONSULTATIVE SERVICE FOR NURSES WISHING TO SUBMIT AND PRESENT ABSTRACTS AT PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS. Norma Sheridan-Leos, RN, MSN, AOCN^®, CPHQ, and Hannelore Jolley, Curtis and Elizabeth Anderson Cancer Institute, Savannah, GA.

Many nurses would like to submit and present abstracts at professional meetings. But due to lack of skills and or resources the nurse does not start or complete the submission process. If an abstract is chosen presentation, a nurse may feel overwhelmed with this process and may not present the work.

This abstract will discuss the efforts of a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) to devise and implement a consultative service for nurses wishing to submit their first abstract for review by a professional group. Detail will be provided so that other organizations can replicate this project.

The CNS designed an in-house consultative service to assist nurses in the abstract submission and presentation processes. The CNS:

1. Identified potential topics
2. Met with each nurse using a one-to-one approach to help the nurse overcome the perceived barriers for submission and presentation.
3. Assisted the nurse to draft the abstract
4. Helped to refine the abstract
5. Assisted in the submission process
6. Assisted in the development of the presentation

A year after the service was started, a medical editor was hired to support nurses with editorial, graphical, and statistical issues with their abstracts and presentations. Due the increased number of nurses attending professional meetings to present their abstracts, the CNS created a tax-exempt clinical education fund to pay for the travel expenses. The CNS also assisted nurses in applying for scholarships to pay for travel expenses.

Prior to the implementation of the program, no abstracts had been submitted. From March 2002 to March 2004, twenty-one abstracts were submitted with twenty accepted for presentation. Fifteen of these abstracts were for first time authors.

When supported, nurses can gain the confidence and skill to submit abstracts and make enlightening presentations that serves not only to enrich the presenter but the nursing community at large.