Christine Moran: ‘We knew we wanted to do something about everything we’d learned.’
APNA Member Christine Moran, BSN, MSW, RN, was a co-presenter with Tiffany McMillan, BSN, RN for the APNA 35th Annual Conference session, 2020 Vision: Providing a CLEAR PATH for Successfully Leading Behavioral Health Inpatient Care During a Pandemic. The path to presenting at the APNA Annual Conference starts with answering the Call for Abstracts and completing the “really easy” process – Christine’s words! Christine explains why she wrote an APNA Annual Conference abstract, and why she chose her presentation type.
Why did you craft an abstract for last year’s conference?
It had been a difficult year for my team, and I felt it would be a positive experience to work together on an abstract to celebrate some of our accomplishments. It was a bonus that both of our projects were selected — one for a poster and the other a podium presentation.
How did you go about it? Did you collaborate with others?
On each submission I collaborated with another team member. We were able to meet in person, at the hospital where we work.
What advice would you have for someone crafting their first abstract?
Creating an abstract for the first time can seem daunting, but APNA makes it really easy by breaking it down into several small sections to complete. Keep it short and simple — the hardest part is staying under the maximum word count!
How did you choose your topic for your APNA Annual Conference Abstract?
COVID had been top of mind all year, so we knew we wanted to do something about everything we learned. At the same time, we wanted to create something that had a broader appeal, hoping COVID would end in the near-future and we could translate our lessons learned to use in future situations. Talking it out with the team helped solidify the topic.
How did you choose your presentation type?
This was the first time I’ve submitted an abstract for a podium presentation, and I was pretty nervous about the prospect of getting up on stage if selected. However, I knew that the topic would really come to life with stories and examples that would have to be spoken, as opposed to printed on a poster.
What did you find rewarding about presenting?
It’s very rewarding to share accomplishments with others, aiming to give ideas to colleagues so they can elevate their practice and patients care. This was my first time delivering a Zoom presentation, and I thought the polling and chat features made it very interactive. It was fun and unexpected to receive a message from a former colleague during the presentation!
