The document provides guidelines for submitting abstracts for the WOCN® Society's annual conference, including requirements for author information, conflict of interest disclosures, and content standards. All authors must be listed at submission and credentials provided. Abstracts must avoid commercial bias by using generic terms and disclosing financial conflicts of interest. Presentations must be based on completed work and avoid protected health information or facility names.

1. WOCN® Society’s 49th Annual Conference
May 19 – 23, 2017
Abstract Submission Process

2. Why do I have to view this?
• We are pleased to offer Continuing Education credit for poster sessions and
must be compliant with regulatory criteria in our abstract and poster
process.
• The information contained in this tutorial, when applied correctly to the
abstract, will increase the chances that the abstract is accepted.
• Not following the rules and information makes your abstract subject to
automatic rejection, which is very avoidable!

3. Author Information
• ALL authors’ names must be “declared” or listed at the time of submission.
• Once the abstract is submitted, no other author names can be added.
• Only appropriate VALID and CURRENT credentials for each author should be
used
EXAMPLE:
T. Weedledee BSN, RN, WOCN INCORRECT
T. Weedledee BSN, RN, CWOCN CORRECT!!

4. Author Information:
Conflict of Interest
• Every named author must complete the required conflict of interest (COI)
form.
• In order for the abstract to be considered ready for review, each author
must have their COI submitted by the abstract submission deadline,
11:00 AM EST/8:00 AM PST, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016.
• It is the PRIMARY author’s responsibility to inform the other authors of the
requirement to complete the COI. Ultimately the primary author is
responsible to make sure the other authors complete the COI document.

5. Author Information:
VERY IMPORTANT
All contributing authors should be listed now.
There will NOT be any opportunity to add authors later….
THIS IS THE ONLY
OPPORTUNITY

6. How do we decide to award CE for the posters?
• All accepted abstract submissions will be reviewed by the designated Nurse
Planner.
• The relevant relationships (that create conflicts of interest) disclosed by
authors and contributors is how we decide to award CE.
• A poster is not eligible for CE if there is a relevant relationship between the
authors/content and any commercial/industry company.

7. CNE Content Integrity
• The 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.
• As such, we must ensure that the content of any activity accredited for
continuing nursing education (CNE) adheres to the criteria, standards and
policies dictated by the ANCC (and affiliated accrediting entities).
• To do so, we must receive information from you to help us determine if you have
a conflict of interest.
• This is outlined by the ANCC in their Content Integrity Standards.

8. Definitions
• The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) defines an organization as
having a commercial interest (“Commercial Interest Organization”)* if it:
• Produces, markets, sells or distributes health care goods or services consumed by or used on patients;
• Is owned or operated, in whole or in part, by an organization that produces, markets, sells or distributes
health care goods or services consumed by or used on patients; or
• Advocates for use of the products or services of commercial interest organizations.
• (*Reference: Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) Standards of Commercial
Support, August 2007 (www.accme.org) - ANCC’s definition is intended to ensure compliance with Food
and Drug Administration Guidance on Industry-Supported Scientific and Educational Activities and
consistency with the ACCME definition)
• Relevant relationships, as defined by ANCC, are relationships with a commercial
interest if the products or services of the commercial interest are related to the
content of the educational activity.

9. Who must disclose?
• All persons in a position to control or exert influence over the content of a
CNE activity MUST disclose to WOCN all relevant relationships with a
commercial interest (as defined on the prior page)
• The ANCC considers relationships of a spouse, partner or close family
member to be those of the person disclosing.
• Any person who does not disclose will be excused from participation in the
CNE portion of the activity.

10. What information must be disclosed?
• Relationships with any commercial interest of the individual’s spouse/partner may be relevant
relationships and must be reported, evaluated, and resolved.
• Evidence of a relevant relationship with a commercial interest may include but is not limited to
receiving a salary, royalty, intellectual property rights, consulting fee, honoraria, ownership
interest (stock and stock options, excluding diversified mutual funds), grants, contracts, or other
financial benefit directly or indirectly from the commercial interest.
• Financial benefits may be associated with employment, management positions, independent
contractor relationships, other contractual relationships, consulting, speaking, teaching,
membership on an advisory committee or review panel, board membership, and other activities
from which remuneration is received or expected from the commercial interest.
• If the research or costs of producing the content to be used in this activity were funded in part or
whole by a commercial interest; this includes in-kind donations, travel expenses, production of
posters, handouts, etc.

11. What does WOCN do with the information?
• Information disclosed to WOCN is reviewed to determine if a conflict of interest
exists.
• The WOCN Lead Nurse Planner (LNP) will work with the discloser to resolve the
conflict, this includes but is not limited to;
• limiting the participation of the individual,
• peer review of content,
• excusing the individual,
• not awarding contact hours for the portion of the activity, and;
• as otherwise warranted by the WOCN LNP.
• The information is also used to disclose to the audience.

12. Further Protecting Against Bias
• Generic Names
• Use of GENERIC name of products is allowed in the body of the abstract and in the poster/oral
presentations. If mentioned in titles, the GENERIC names of products are to be used.
• Brand names and company names may be identified only once in an acknowledgement section.
• Presentations that constitute promotion and advertising, including pervasive or inappropriate use of
logos will not be accepted.
• No company product information may be displayed or disseminated in conjunction with the oral or
poster presentation.
• If the cost of a presentation has been underwritten to any extent, a disclosure stating the support and
identifying the source will be required at the time of the abstract submission and will be required with
the oral or poster presentation (e.g., "The support of [Corporation or Institution] for this project is
gratefully acknowledged.").
• Statements should not be viewed as or considered representative of any formal stance or position
taken on any subject, issue, or product by the WOCN® Society.

13. Further Protecting Against Bias
• Company Logos, Slogans or Tag Lines
• The logos, slogans or tag lines (or for that matter any marketing or advertising content) of a commercial
interest are not to be used in presentations.
• Further, WOCN strongly advises against the use of any company logos, tag lines or slogans in the content
of a presentation, regardless of the company’s status as a commercial interest.
• While the policies are intended to protect against undue influence by commercial interests, WOCN also
recognizes that other organizations, not meeting the definition of commercial support may stand to
benefit financially by the promotion of their company or products/services and this may create a bias for
the planners or faculty who have a relationship with the company.
• The test for this is to ask yourself if the audience members are customer targets of the entity whose logo
or materials are to be presented.
• If the answer is yes, then WOCN recommends against use. Please consider this in the development
and presentation of your abstract.

14. Copyrights/Patents & Attribution
• 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.

15. General Information
• Reminder that abstracts should reflect COMPLETED work, not anticipated
work. Incomplete results would be cause for the abstract to be rejected. All
work should be completed prior to abstract submission.
• The Case Study category requires at least 3 cases, but could include more.
It would be considered RARE, to submit a one case scenario unless it is
especially unique, which would be to say that the condition is so very rare,
or the solution so groundbreaking that it has not been discussed before, for
example.

16. General Information
• Facility/Company/Personal Names do not belong in the abstract, and
would be justification for rejection of the abstract.
• No Protected Health Information (PHI) is to appear in the slides
Suggestions for Agency:
“Small rural hospital in the Midwest”
“Level I trauma center in the Northeast USA”
“Academic hospital located in the Southwestern United States”

17. General Information
• Use appropriate terms—standardization is best
• “WOC nurse” instead of “the CWOCN” or “the WOCN”
• WOCN® Society—reflects our legal name

18. General Information
• Product information should be discussed in generic terms
Examples:
Moldable ostomy barrier
Silver impregnated foam dressing
Multi-layer compression system
Low Frequency Ultrasound
Negative Pressure Wound Therapy
Medications: “Ibuprofen” (appropriate) vs “Advil”
• In the “Acknowledgement” Section of your poster, you may clarify these generics,
but this section does not appear in the Abstract Submission Process.

19. General Information
• Before submitting the abstract, ask someone to independently review it for
grammar, spelling, and clarity of communication of the information.
• Be concise—the abstract is an eagle’s eye overview of the work. But it is
the commercial to make the reader understand what is included and what
the topic is about as well.
• Do NOT wait until the last minute….anything could happen….
Computer crashes, bad weather, illness, and LIFE…..begin early!!

20. General Information
• If you are submitting an abstract, anticipate that it will be accepted, and
make arrangements for conference registration early—
• The primary author will be expected to register for the conference upon
notification of acceptance of the abstract. There is generally only 30 days
after notification to register, so be prepared to do so!!
• Registration means that the conference fee is paid, and this serves as a
means to confirm your attendance to present your poster!

21. General Information
• Posters will be displayed throughout the conference, and the CE poster
session will be held on Monday of the conference.
• Primary authors are expected to be present at their poster during the CE
poster session.
• If you are a first time abstract presenter, please indicate that when asked.
• If your abstract focuses on prevention, please indicate that when asked.
• Please note that only research category abstracts will be considered for oral
presentation at the conference. However, even if the information is
presented orally, a poster may still be displayed.

22. General Information
• Specific instructions on posters, including how to cite references, how to
acknowledge your agency, how to acknowledge vendor support, how to use
logos and so on, will be sent to you if your abstract is accepted for poster
presentation.
• Oral presentations will be reviewed by the Abstract Chair or designee, or the
Education Committee/Consultant, and other instructions regarding that
process will follow should podium presentation invitation be given.

23. Good luck with the submission process!!
If you have any questions, please reach out!
Jody Scardillo, DNP, RN, ANP-BC, CWOCN
Abstract Chair
National Conference Planning Committee
ascardil@verizon.net
Email Subject: Abstract Question
National Office Contact:
Brooke Passy, CMP
bpassy@wocn.org

24. References
1. American Nursing Credentialing Center’s Content Integrity
Standards (2014). Retrieved from:
http://www.nursecredentialing.org/Accreditation/ResourcesServic
es/Accreditation-CEContentIntegrity