Public health nursing stands at the heart of healthier communities, driving prevention, promoting well‑being, and delivering compassionate, community-rooted care. As frontline leaders, public health nurses confront the complex realities of health equity, social determinants of health, and system‑level challenges that shape outcomes across the lifespan. To advance the field and its impact, the dissemination of research, translation of evidence into practice, and sharing of lessons learned are critical.

The Public Health Nursing (PHN) Section welcomes empirical research and practice-related presentations that follow systematic methods such as quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. Abstracts should be no more than 250 words. All abstracts must have direct relevance to public health nursing practice, research, education, policy, or workforce. If your abstract is not relevant to public health nursing, please go back to the APHA Call for Abstracts page and select an appropriate component/group to which to submit.

Submissions may be proposed as poster, oral, or roundtable presentations. Please indicate your preferred format on the abstract form. If your abstract is accepted, you will be required to become an individual APHA member and register for the Annual Meeting in order to present. Abstracts submitted for consideration must not be published in a scientific journal or presented at any other conference prior to the APHA Annual Meeting.

• Community-based nursing interventions
  
• Environmental health
  
• Health equity and social determinants of health
  
• Integrating technology in public health nursing
  
• Nursing leadership in public health
  
• Outbreak response and emergency preparedness
  
• Policy advocacy and population health
  
• School and occupational health nursing
  
• Workforce development and education
  

Structured Abstract Format

Limit abstracts to 250 words, using one of the two formats below (unstructured abstracts will not be accepted):

Research Abstract:

• Background
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusions

Lessons-learned and practice-based abstracts:

• Background/ Issue
• Description
• Lessons Learned
• Implications/recommendations

Symposium Sessions 

The PHN section also invites submissions for 90-minute symposium sessions. Please e-mail the program chairs if you are submitting a symposium: these require special processing for appropriate review. There will only be a few open time slots available for consideration as symposia sessions. Because of the volume of abstracts we receive and the limited number of oral sessions we are allotted, we cannot consider symposium sessions containing fewer than four papers. Abstracts for proposed individual papers must be submitted along with an overall symposium abstract. This complete package gives the reviewers more substance from which to judge the overall merits of the proposal. Symposium submissions should:

1. Include an overall session abstract, which includes a rationale for the session, the proposed paper titles, author(s), order of presentation, and the abstract numbers for the individual papers, as well as abstracts for each individual paper presentation.
2. Clearly label each individual paper session abstract with "SESSION ABSTRACT - your proposed paper presentation title" (you fill in the italicized part but keep the SESSION ABSTRACT) on the electronic submission page form when entering your proposal.
3. Identify the proposed moderator and/or discussant.
4. Be sure that each individual presenter submits a separate abstract and indicates that it is part of a symposium referencing the session title.
5. Provide contact information (phone and e-mail) for the person in charge of the session directly on the overall session abstract, so we can contact you easily.
6. Indicate whether or not you would like to have the individual abstracts considered for presentation in other sessions, if your proposed symposium is not accepted. Please state, "YES, I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE ABSTRACTS CONSIDERED SEPARATELY" or "NO, I DO NOT WANT TO HAVE THESE ABSTRACTS CONSIDERED SEPARATELY".

Please be aware that each paper in the symposium is scored individually and the symposium is also scored as a group. The individual abstract for each paper must score reasonably well in order to be considered for a symposium session.

Review Criteria

All abstracts will be blind-reviewed by 2-3 reviewers using the following criteria:

1. Significance of the problem to public health nursing

2. Innovation of ideas, methods and/or approach

3. Rigor of methods and approach (analytical design for research, systematic approach for practice and/or policy)

4. Presentation of empirical findings (not applicable if abstract does not present empirical research)

5. Implications identified for future research, practice, education, and/or policy

6. Clarity of writing

For inquiries, please contact the Program Committee Chair and Co-Chair:  

Modupe Akintomide, PhD, MSN/MPH, PHNA-BC, CHES. Email: Madewuy1@Kennesaw.edu 

Christina Hernandez, PhD, RN. Email: cmherna2@uiwtx.edu

Research Committee Symposium Invitation

The PHN Research Committee invites early career investigators to submit their work to a special Annual Meeting symposium dedicated to the Next Generation of PHN Researchers.  The purpose of this session is to highlight the work of new and developing PHN researchers, and to showcase the range and diversity of PHN research topics, methodologies, and populations.

All type of research is welcome, within the broad goals of the PHN section and themes of the Annual Meeting.  Applicants may present individual work, or as lead investigator on a group project. If submitting as a member of a research team, the applicant must clearly define their unique role in the project.  Applicants’ eligibility criteria are:

• Must be a registered nurse
• Must be a member of the PHN section
• Must meet the NIH definition of an “early career investigator”
• Must have a terminal degree
• Doctoral students may apply if they have advanced to candidacy

All types of research are welcome, but they must have direct relevance to public health nursing and the theme of the Annual Meeting. Applicants may present individual work or serve as the lead investigator on a group project. Those submitting as part of a research team must clearly describe their specific role in the project. Applicants submitting a sub‑project of a larger study must also include a brief one‑paragraph statement explaining how the sub‑project fits within the broader research program.

Note: NIH defines early career investigators as someone “who has completed their terminal research degree or end of post-graduate clinical training, whichever date is later, within the past 10 years and who has not previously competed successfully as PI for a substantial NIH independent research award.”  https://grants.nih.gov/policy-and-compliance/policy-topics/early-stage-investigators/policy

For inquiries on the Research Symposium, please contact the Research Committee Chair:  aphaphnursing@gmail.com

Emerging Researcher Award

The Emerging Investigator Award, awarded by the PHN section via the Research Committee, honors an early-career (NIH definition) PHN Section member's work since completing a doctoral education. To be considered for the Emerging Researcher Award, please select the award box during your abstract submission.

For inquiries on the Emerging Investigator Award, please contact the Research Committee Chair:       aphaphnursing@gmail.com

Continuing Education Credit

APHA values the ability to provide continuing education credit to physicians, nurses, health educators, and those certified in public health at its annual meeting. Please complete all required information when submitting an abstract so members can claim credit for attending your session. These credits are necessary for members to keep their licenses and credentials.

For a session to be eligible for Continuing Education Credit, each presenter must provide:

- An abstract free of trade and/or commercial product names

- At least one MEASURABLE outcome (DO NOT USE “To understand” or “To learn” as objectives, they are not measurable). Examples of Acceptable Measurable Action Words: Explain, Demonstrate, Analyze, Formulate, Discuss, Compare, Differentiate, Describe, Name, Assess, Evaluate, Identify, Design, Define, or List.

- A signed Conflict of Interest (Disclosure) form with a relevant Qualification Statement. See an example of an acceptable Qualification Statement on the online Disclosure form.

Contact Mighty Fine (mighty.fine@apha.org) if you have any questions concerning continuing education credit. Please contact the program planner for all other questions.

---

Ready?

Program Planner Contact Information:

Modupe Akintomide,
madewuy1@kennesaw.edu


and

Christina Hernandez, RN, PhD
cmherna2@uiwtx.edu