The ANPD Aspire Convention is a great way to showcase the impactful work of nursing professional development (NPD) practitioners from across the world through podium and poster presentations. It’s an opportunity to come together as peers and colleagues to celebrate the impact this nursing specialty has on patient outcomes, clinical teams, and overall global health. So, what does it take to present your work? A quality abstract! Abstracts do not need to be scary or intimidating. Remember, you are the expert in your practice, and putting together an abstract allows you to summarize and showcase your hard work. Think of it as your written elevator pitch: a brief, persuasive summary that captures the attention of the abstract reviewer.

Start with the Track

ANPD provides a great resource in their 2027 Abstract Submission Guide, and this should always be the starting place for writing an abstract. The Aspire Convention categorizes presentations and posters into education tracks that align with the throughputs of the NPD Practice model — onboarding and orientation, competency management, education, role development, collaborative partnerships, and inquiry (Harper & Maloney, 2022). A seventh track, NPD essentials, supports NPD practice by further developing the professional skills used in real-world practice. It is important to consider the best track fit for your abstract. Detailed explanations of each track can be found on the Aspire abstract submissions page.

Polish Your Writing

There are some general writing tips that support the development of a great abstract. Be concise and summarize the project while outlining critical points and practice implications (Hayakawa & Barrows, 2023). Avoid abbreviations and acronyms that may be unfamiliar to a broad audience (Hayakawa & Barrows, 2023). Avoid any identifiers within the abstract, which is critical to the review process. Having your name, your organization’s name, or other identifying information in the abstract will disqualify your submission, so be sure to only provide this information where it is specifically asked for. Have a friend or peer who was not involved in the work review your abstract. Their view will help you determine if you have clearly described your work. Finally, closely follow the instructions provided in the abstract submission guide. While some items may seem minor, these guidelines allow for fair and equitable review of all abstract submissions.

Focus on the Heart of the Abstract

As you get to the body of your abstract, submissions are written and aligned to the NPD Practice Model. This is the time to pull out the NPD Scope and Standards of Practice to help you write (Harper & Maloney, 2022). The Scope and Standards provides a wealth of information beneficial to writing. As you work through the inputs, throughputs, and outputs of your work, there are key things to consider when writing your abstract.

Inputs

This is where you will introduce your work. What problem were you trying to solve, or what was the opportunity for improvement that you addressed? What did you collect during the environmental scanning that told you there was a problem? This is a key place to include data to help paint the picture of the issue addressed in your work. Remember, it is critical as NPD practitioners that we can demonstrate the measurable gap between current state and desired state. Data collected during the environmental scanning process and within the inputs lays the foundation for identifying the appropriate throughputs and outputs of your project. So, while this section may seem like “just an introduction,” it is so important to a successful abstract submission.

Throughputs

This is the fun part! Here, you get to tell the story of what you did. This can also be the hardest part to keep succinct and clear. Remember, while your project may have taken months or years to complete, this is your written elevator pitch, so keep to what’s important. Clearly describe what you did. Who did you involve in the work, and who were your collaborative partners? How did you determine the best interventions? How did you address systems impacts, barriers, or use your NPD practice judgement? This section should be closely tied to your educational track of choice, if you’ve been tempted to close the Scope and Standards, this is the time to crack it back open and assure that your throughputs clearly align with NPD practice.

Outputs

In this part, you get to show off! You’ve done all the hard work, so now it's time to share it. Talk about how you know your intervention was successful. This is where you’ll bring back that data. What measurable improvement did you make and how do you know? How did you address long-term sustainability to ensure ongoing success? Most importantly, do not forget about the return on investment (ROI). Take the extra step to quantify the financial impact you have had with your work. Money talks! While it’s important to talk about the implications of your work to NPD practice, this additional step of sharing the ROI will allow your peer NPD practitioners to more effectively bring back learnings from your work into their organizations across the world.

Adapting for NPD Essentials

If you are submitting an abstract in the NPD essentials track, your content may not fit neatly into the inputs, throughputs, and outputs, and that’s ok! There’s an entire page of the abstract submission guide full of tips on writing your content in a way that provides what abstract reviewers will be looking for in your work. Focusing on this content and aligning your work with the standards and competencies of the NPD Scope and Standards of Practice will guide you in the right direction.

Proceed with Caution

We can’t talk about abstract writing without talking about the use of artificial intelligence (AI). While this emerging technology can enhance and support our work as NPD practitioners, it is crucial to understand the potential risks of its use in abstract writing. Using AI tools can help increase clarity and simplify concepts, but there is real risk in losing depth of the work (Albuquerque & Gomes dos Santos, 2026). Additionally, the risks of plagiarism and hallucinations are present when relying on AI for abstract and presentation writing (Babl & Babl, 2023). Using AI as a supportive tool to help clarify specific phrases, improve grammar, or even compare your draft with the submission guidelines is a great way to use this tool without compromising your work. If your abstract is selected, you will be required to disclose all AI use to ANPD’s NPD team and to the Aspire audience, so keep careful track of how and when you are using AI.

We’re Cheering You On!

Abstract writing does not need to be a scary thing! Remember, you know your work better than anyone. Be proud of what you’ve been able to accomplish and take the time to demonstrate that through your abstract. The Aspire Convention is a welcoming platform to share your work among colleagues. Whether it is your first time or twentieth time writing and submitting an abstract for Aspire, you have an entire global network of NPD practitioners rooting for you!

References

• Albuquerque, F., & Gomes dos Santos, P. (2026). Who moved my text? Assessing whether ChatGPT can write better abstracts than humans. Cogent Education, 13(1). https://doi-org.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/2331186X.2026.2616858
• Babl, F. E., & Babl, M. P. (2023). Generative artificial intelligence: Can ChatGPT write a quality abstract? Emergency Medicine Australasia, 35(5), 809–811. https://doi.org/10.1111/1742-6723.14233
• Harper, M. G., & Maloney, P. (Eds.). (2022). Nursing professional development scope and standards of practice (4th ed.). Association for Nursing Professional Development.
• Hayakawa, J., & Barrows, J. (2023). How to Write an Abstract for Poster or Podium Submission. Nursing Economics, 41(6), 309-311