Call for Abstracts

Abstract submissions are accepted through Wednesday, December 1, 2021 at 11:00am EST/8:00am PST

Prior to starting your submission process, please click here to review the slide show with information about the process.

All abstracts should be submitted by clicking the links at the top of the page.

All submissions must be completed electronically. No hard copies will be accepted. The system is very user-friendly and information about technical assistance is available. Please read the following instructions carefully before clicking on the links to begin an abstract submission.

All abstracts will be presented in electronic format (ePoster) with each author being able to choose to also present their work in a traditional format (paper poster). At the time of acceptance, the author must declare their intent to present in a traditional format.

Submit an abstract in one of the following categories:

Research Study

In this poster category, author(s) will present original research focusing on wound, ostomy, continence, foot care or professional practice topics. Each poster must be presented with the following heading:

• Topic/Introduction
• Purpose
• Methodology
• Results Including Statistics
• Conclusion

Quality Improvement Projects should be submitted in the Practice Innovation category.

Practice Innovation

In this poster category, author(s) will present innovative practice changes that demonstrate a new way to approach a problem that pertains to wound, ostomy, continence, foot care or professional practice. The practice innovation must be presented with the following headings:

• Topic
• Purpose
• Objectives
• Outcomes

Quality Improvement Projects should be submitted in this category.

Case Study

In this poster category, author(s) will present THREE (3) cases that present a clinical challenge managed with a unique solution that pertains to wound, ostomy, continence, or foot care. The case study must be presented with the following headings:

• Statement of the Clinical Problem
• Past Management
• Current Clinical Approach
• Patient Outcomes
• Conclusions

Themes and topics for submissions include but are not restricted to:

Wellness

Behaviors, actions and interventions to promote health & well-being.

• Preventative practices or prevention program (pressure ulcer/injury, MASD)
• Bowel and bladder management, continence clinic
• Foot and nail care
• Quality of life aspects

Symptom Science

Understanding pathophysiology and manifestations of acute and chronic illness.

• Evidence-based treatment and management of WOC-related problems
• Ostomy-related complications
• Complications of incontinence
• Dermatological issues

Quality

Measures of patient-centered, safe, effective, timely, efficient and equitable care.

• Clinical outcomes, standards of care, evaluation, program development
• Use of software, database programs
• Educational resources

Clinical Care Innovations

Advancing practice through the integration of education and research.

• Management of complex wounds, ostomies
• Product selection and innovation
• Professional issues (role justification, marketing strategies, satisfaction measurement, survival in changing health care environment, WOC nurse as educator, quality improvement issues specific to WOC role)

All abstracts submitted are eligible for oral or poster presentation at WOCNext 2022. Authors of top ranking research abstracts will be invited to present their findings during a general session. In addition, the reviewers will select other top scoring abstracts to be presented during several Concurrent Sessions identified by the National Conference Planning Committee. Those top scoring abstracts not chosen for an oral presentation will also be considered for poster presentations.

The author must submit abstracts of COMPLETED work. Previously presented work is acceptable for submission and must be disclosed. Duplicate abstracts published in previous JWOCN Scientific and Clinical Abstracts will not be accepted.

Abstract submission implies that the primary/corresponding author has the consent of all authors and has obtained necessary institutional clearances. All authors must complete the online verification and credential information. ALL AUTHORS MUST BE ADDED AT THE TIME OF SUBMISSION. Please keep in mind that if the abstract is accepted, it is published in a supplement of the Journal of Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nursing.

Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation (ANCC).

Organizations accredited by the ANCC are required to identify and mitigate for any bias resulting from financial relationships with defined ineligible companies by individuals in a position to influence and/or control the content of accredited education.

• Ineligible Companies are those whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Examples of such organizations may be found here.

• All individuals in a position to influence and/or control the content of accredited education are required to disclose to us and subsequently to learners: (1) any financial relationship(s) they have or have had with ineligible companies for 24 months prior to the activity, or (2) if they do not have a relevant financial relationship with an ineligible company.
• Failure to provide disclosure information in a timely manner prior to the individual’s involvement will result in the disqualification of the individual from participating in the accredited education.

• ANCC focuses on financial relationships with ineligible companies during the 24 months prior to the activity.
• There is no minimum financial threshold; we ask that you disclose all financial relationships, regardless of the amount, with ineligible companies.
• You should disclose all financial relationships regardless of the potential relevance of each relationship to the education.
• Examples of financial relationships include employee, researcher, consultant, advisor, speaker, independent contractor (including contracted research), royalties or patent beneficiary, executive role, and ownership interest.
• Individual stocks and stock options should be disclosed; diversified mutual funds do not need to be disclosed.
• Research funding from ineligible companies should be disclosed by the principal or named investigator even if that individual’s institution receives the research grant and manages the funds.

ANCC Requirements for Content in Accredited Education

- Educational materials that are part of accredited education (such as slides, abstracts, handouts, evaluation mechanisms, or disclosure information) must not contain any marketing produced by or for an ineligible company, including corporate or product logos, trade names, or product group messages.

- All recommendations for patient care in accredited continuing education must be based on current science, evidence, and clinical reasoning, while giving a fair and balanced view of diagnostic and therapeutic options.

- All scientific research referred to, reported, or used in accredited education in support or justification of a patient care recommendation must conform to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation.

- Evolving topics are presented without advocating for, or promoting, practices that are not, or not yet, adequately based on current science, evidence, and clinical reasoning. Sessions that cover these topics must be clearly identified in the program or agenda.

- Accredited education cannot include unscientific approaches to diagnosis or therapy, or education that promotes recommendations, treatment, or manners of practicing healthcare that are determined to have risks or dangers that outweigh the benefits or are known to be ineffective in the treatment of patients.

- Faculty (speakers or authors) must not actively promote or sell products or services that serve their professional or financial interests during accredited education.

- Only relevant relationships are disclosed to learners prior to the activity.

Please provide appropriate symbols and references and secure all permissions if dealing with copyrighted material and/or patents. This is solely the author(s) responsibility to secure these permissions. The WOCN® Society has no responsibility whatsoever in securing these permissions.

Please give credit to all references used in the development of the abstract/poster. Oversight of reference may result in abstract/poster rejection.

Please provide all information requested on the on-line submission form. Noncompliance with the instructions will result in immediate rejection. Please keep in mind the following:

• All authors are required to submit verification of credentials and authorship. Only authors who undergo this process may be included and listed authors on the abstract and subsequent poster.

• A title for the presentation that informs the reader of the subject matter.

• Limit the abstract to 300 words, single-spaced. Title, author, and references are not included in the word count. Please be sure that your abstract describes the work performed.

• A minimum of three (3) patients are required (unless the case is complex or a unique situation and/or a unique technology is used) for all "Case Study" abstract submissions.

• Images or photos will not be accepted at the time of abstract submission.

• The abstract will be blind-reviewed, so please make sure that neither author(s) name(s) nor facility affiliations appear in the body of the abstract.

• References are mandatory. Please list 3-5 references in APA format. The number of references is restricted to no more than five (5).

• Disclosure of all sources of support is mandatory. There is a separate area to disclose support. BRAND NAMES CANNOT BE INCLUDED IN YOUR ABSTRACT- NO EXCEPTIONS. Please note only the generic name in the body of the abstract.

The review process is completed by individuals from the WOCN® Society's National Conference Planning Committee and content/research experts. Abstracts are blind reviewed (meaning that the person who reads and rates an abstract does not know the name of the author(s)) and then accepted or rejected based on an average of several scores.

The numerical rankings for the different criteria of an abstract are then averaged and used to decide to accept or reject the abstract.

All abstracts are reviewed for compliance with the above instructions. The abstract reviewers will use the following criteria to score each abstract:

Research Abstracts

1. Topic: is the topic significant to wounds, ostomy, continence, and/or professional practice?
2. Purpose: is the purpose/objective clearly stated?
3. Methodology: are the methods described and appropriate?
4. Statistics: have appropriate statistical methods been used?
5. Results: are the results presented in sufficient detail to address the research questions or aim?
6. Conclusion: are conclusions supported by data presented in the abstract?
7. Clarity: is the abstract well written? Are ideas clearly communicated?

Practice Innovation Abstracts

1. Topic: is the topic significant to wounds, ostomy, continence, and/or professional practice?
2. Purpose: is the purpose clearly stated? Is a description included that identifies the need for the practice innovation?
3. Objective: is the objective clearly stated? Is a summary of the purpose and objective(s) for the practice innovation included?
4. Outcomes: are the outcomes that relate to the problem and objective(s) included? Are the key measures or indicators used to evaluate the outcomes described?
5. Clarity: is the abstract well written? Are ideas clearly communicated?

Case Study Abstracts

1. Statement of Clinical Problem: is the clinical problem/challenge clearly articulated and relevant to WOC nursing practice? Is relevant clinical data included (age, gender, primary related diagnosis, and relevant comorbidities)? Is the significance to practice described?
2. Description of Past Management: is the duration of the clinical problem stated? Are past management approaches and patient response described?
3. Current Clinical Approach: is the management plan and any changes made to it described along with rationale?
4. Patient Outcomes: is the patient response described, including time frame for response, objective and subjective data?
5. Are there are least 3 patients included, unless a very specific or unusual case or technology is used?
6. Conclusions: are clinical implications identified along with limitations? Has the author limited conclusions to this case only, without generalization to general population?

Abstracts receiving the highest scores will be accepted for poster presentations only. Notification will be sent in January 2022.

Primary authors of the abstracts selected for oral and poster presentations will be notified in January 2022.

Upon notification of acceptance, authors are required to respond within the required timeframe with intent or refusal to present. Only abstracts with intention to present at WOCNext will be published in the JWOCN. The presenting author(s) will have a deadline to register for WOCNext. If the presenting author fails to register, the paper will be withdrawn from the supplement and from the event.

All accepted abstracts will be published in a supplement to the Journal of Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing (JWOCN), which will include each abstract's author and author affiliation. The email address of all author(s) will also be included.

Before publication in the supplement all abstracts are reviewed for content. The WOCN® Society reserves the right to make minor edits to the abstract; such as, the correct use of the term WOCN® Society and WOC nurse. If there are more complex changes that need to be made the primary author will be notified.

The WOCN® Society invites all authors to submit their abstract (not mandatory) in the form of a manuscript to the JWOCN for later publication. Information regarding the process for manuscript submission to the JWOCN can be found on the JWOCN website under the "For Authors" section. This is not a requirement that must be fulfilled before presenting at WOCNext.

Oral Presentations

Only the primary author will make the presentation unless another author is approved by the WOCN® Society's National Conference Abstract Chair. Time for oral presentations will vary and will be communicated to authors well in advance of the date of the presentation.

ePosters

All abstracts will be presented in electronic format (ePoster) with each author being able to choose to also present their work in a traditional (paper poster) format this year. At time of acceptance, the author must declare if they intend to present in a traditional format. Click here for more information on ePosters.

Poster Presentations

Authors of accepted poster abstracts must install and dismantle their poster per the abstract schedule (located in the poster guidelines). All authors must be at their posters on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 from 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm. Poster Merit Awards for the top abstract in each category will be announced during the Abstracts General Session on Monday, June 6, 2022 at 9:50 am.

Handouts are encouraged. No audiovisual equipment will be available. Please note the maximum size of the poster cannot be larger than the board provided at the conference center which is 4' x 8'. Supplies for mounting posters will be available. Notification will be sent as to the location of the poster session and the times for set up in advance of WOCNext. Review the 2022 Poster Guidelines here.

Non-ANCC Contact Hour Posters

Non-ANCC Contact Hour posters are accepted abstracts submitted by an author with unresolvable relationships with ineligible companies. Having an unresolvable relationship with an ineligible company does not exclude abstracts from being accepted, displayed as a poster at WOCNext 2022 or able to win a merit award, it simply means that no ANCC Contact Hours will be awarded for these abstracts due to ANCC standards requiring separation between promotion and education. These posters will be displayed separately from the ANCC Contact Hour posters in the meeting abstract site/Poster Hall.

Onsite Poster Review

Posters will be reviewed by the WOCN® Society's National Conference Abstract Chair/designee and judges. Infractions that violate these published guidelines could result in a poster being temporarily altered or even removed from display. Please follow the guidelines carefully to avoid these scenarios.

If an abstract is accepted for poster presentation, specific information about layout, including a tutorial on poster layout/development will be available post notification of acceptance.

At least one author must register to attend WOCNext 2022 (in person or virtually) by Tuesday, March 1, 2022.