THE PATH TO COMPLETING A POSTER
To submit a poster for US NAVIGATOR Conference, you need to complete a submission form via the link below.
Submission FormEXPLAINING POSTERS
Lithography, a cheap printing method based on the inability of oil and water to mix, proved to be a crucial development in the history of communication. After the method’s invention in the late 18th century, lithographic posters became a popular technique for spreading ideas to the public through imagery.
Now we live in a world that is more saturated with images than ever before. But in the age of digital printing, posters are still a powerful tool for conveying information to general audiences. For instance, researchers and professionals often use posters to share knowledge in a way that has more visual impact than written manuscripts.
This project poster reviews a nurse wellness initiative using pictures and graphs, with the text functioning primarily as support
Download PDFTHE PATH TO A POSTER
Here are some things you should know about the path you will be on if you decide to create a project poster:
YOU WILL PRESENT YOUR POSTER AT A CONFERENCE
Posters are not academic manuscripts. Above all, they are a way of facilitating in-person conversation about your work. Therefore, if you make a poster, it would be a good idea to present your poster at a conference. If you submit a poster for an upcoming NAVIGATOR, then understand that you will be expected but not required to present your poster at that NAVIGATOR.
Check out this helpful video here to gain a feel for what it’s like to present a poster at a conference.
YOU NEED TO COMPLETE A SUBMISSION FORM FIRST
Conferences require that you submit a proposal (these are usually called “conference abstracts”) before you submit the actual poster. The proposal for your poster will be reviewed to make sure it meets the standards of the conference. To present a poster at NAVIGATOR, you will need to first submit a submission form, which is available here. The submission form can be thought of as a proposal for your poster.
THE SUBMISSION FORM IS DUE MONTHS EARLIER
The submission form deadline for project posters is 2-3 months before that year’s NAVIGATOR. It is a good idea to plan well ahead.
CHOOSING A TYPE OF PRODUCT
The submission form requires that you choose a type of project. There are three main types–improvement, case report, and research.
IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS EVALUATE AGENCY PROCEDURES
It is common for organizations to implement and assess new programs or procedures, or to measure the effectiveness of existing operations. An improvement project poster describes this process of evaluation done by an agency, with the goal of sharing important insights and outcomes. In contrast to many academic projects, improvement projects strongly align with what managers, trainers, and directors do at their agencies every day.
EXAMPLE–IMPROVING QUALITY ASSURANCE
The improvement project described in the example poster concerns a familiar problem–because there are few shift supervisors, the emergency dispatchers at Made-Up Agency are receiving inadequate feedback. In response, the agency implements the peer review system detailed in the poster. The evaluation of the peer review system is exactly the sort of thing that would be of great interest to many (real) agencies facing similar problems.
EXAMPLE-ADDRESSING OVERTRIAGE
Another lasting problem concerns overtriage complaints made by field responders. This fictitious improvement project evaluates a pilot program “buddy system” intended to reduce an increasing amount of complaints from the field.
CASE REPORTS
CASE REPORTS DESCRIBE INTERESTING EMERGENCY CALLS
In medical literature, case reports chronicle a patient’s treatment. Usually the case of the patient’s treatment is so unusual or difficult that there is merit in documenting the circumstances for the purpose of teaching others. In emergency dispatching, the setting of the report is a single emergency call. As evidenced by this, and this, and this, there is much to be gained from recounting noteworthy emergency calls and sharing what was learned from them.
You can read more about writing case reports here.
RESEARCH PROJECTS
RESEARCH PROJECTS ARE MORE ACADEMIC
Research projects play by a different, and more scholarly, set of rules than improvement projects or case reports. For example, well before researchers start data collection, it is common to conduct a literature review, which is a systematic investigation of academic sources on a topic. If you are not confident in your academic skills, or don’t have research mentors in your circle, then you might want to try another type of project.
RESEARCH PROJECTS INVOLVE ETHICAL OVERSIGHT
Before data collection, research projects require approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB), which is a committee that reviews research in order to ensure compliance to ethical standards set by, among other documents, the Nuremberg Code and the Belmont Report. For more information on submitting a proposal to an IRB, you can look at this page.
An Example
Here is a research project that examines the use of the “Tell Me Exactly What Happened” Case Entry Question.
SUBMIT
You can start your submission form here. After you submit, we will get back to you as soon as we can.
