Abstract Guidelines

Important Information for Submitting an Abstract

To Get Started

  • The following information will help you determine if the PCNA Annual Cardiovascular Nursing Symposium is a good fit for your abstract and outline the submission content that will be requested.

Awards & Publication

  • All abstracts will be reviewed by the Abstracts Committee and those selected will be invited to attend the symposium and display their work at the poster fair.
  • Three outstanding written abstracts (one in each category) will be selected to deliver a 10-minute oral presentation. Winners will deliver a 10-minute oral presentation at a session during the symposium.  These winners will be chosen prior to the symposium and given more detailed instructions at that time.
  • All other abstracts selected to participate in the poster fair are required to attend the symposium and display their poster.  During the Opening Reception these posters will be blindly judged and a first and second place ribbon will be placed on winning posters in each category.
  • All oral presenters and all first and second place poster winners will be recognized during the Awards Ceremony and published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing.

Key Dates

  • August 15, 2022: Call for Abstracts opens
  • December 2, 2022: Call for Abstracts closes
  • January 31, 2023: Authors notified of decision
  • April 13-15, 2023: Cardiovascular Nursing Symposium in New Orleans, LA

Submission Policies

  • Only original abstracts will be considered (not previously published or presented prior to submitting to PCNA)
  • Submission of an abstract constitutes a commitment by the author to present a poster at PCNA’s 29th Annual Cardiovascular Nursing Symposium.
  • Any author may not be the first author on more than one submission.
  • Any investigator may not present more than two posters.
  • Industry representatives (i.e. from device/pharmaceutical/food companies) cannot be the first author on any submitted abstracts.
  • Authors of industry-related or previously published or presented work may be present and have a poster in the General Poster Sessions but are not eligible for publication in the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing or oral presentation. Email our Abstract team for these submissions.
  • The deadline for submission is December 2, 2022. Submissions received after this date will not be accepted for review.

Submission Guidelines

  • In the full abstract, please list full names, followed by degrees/credentials, employer, phone, fax and city/state for each author.
  • Be sure that street address, zip code, and grant support are NOT listed in abstracts.
  • The abstract itself may not exceed a word count of 300, including tables. The 300-word limit does not include the title or author(s) information.
  • Original Research, Innovative Projects and Graduate Capstone must have empirical evidence. PCNA will not accept case studies and literature reviews.
  • When using abbreviations, spell out in full in the first mention, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses.
  • Check accuracy of spelling, grammar, and punctuation: your poster abstract will appear in the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing exactly as you submit it. Thus, any errors, misspellings, incorrect hyphenations, or deviations from good grammatical usage will appear in the published abstract.
  • If you do not receive an e-mail confirmation within 24 hours after submitting your abstract online, it is your responsibility to contact the PCNA National Office to make sure we have received your submission.

Selection Process

The Abstract Review Committee will make selections using a blind review process.

Category Description

Original Research

Including research that reports data from existing data sets or original basic, clinical, or population-level research.

Innovation in Patient Care

Including, but not limited to, quality and process improvement projects, patient education/counseling programs, and creative approaches to patient and system-focused programs.

Graduate Capstone

Master’s and doctoral (DNP or PhD) level projects that provide data that may inform quality/process improvement or provide preliminary basic, clinical, or population-level research findings. Nurse residency program capstone projects will also be accepted.  PhD-level projects may be better suited to the original research category.

Grading Criteria

  1. The investigation should be based on original concepts and provide important new data.
  2. The topic should be relevant to the theme of the meeting or mission of PCNA.
  3. The study design and methodology of the research project should be appropriate.
  4. The abstract should include complete data or information on outcomes.
  5. The findings should be factual, unique, practical, and appropriate to the PCNA audience.
  6. The conclusions should be valid.
  7. The abstract should be well written (i.e., straightforward and easy to understand).

The following components are required for each abstract:

  • Background
  • Methods
  • Interventions
  • Results
  • Conclusion(s)
  • Implication(s) for practice