Welcome to AACN’s Abstract Submission Platform for the 2027 Access, Connection, Engagement (ACE) Symposium!

2027 Access, Connection, Engagement (ACE) Symposium June 9-11, 2027
Submission Deadline / Due Date: Wednesday, February 17, 2027 11:59 p.m. ET

We hope you will join us at the 2027 Access, Connection, Engagement (ACE) Symposium in Tucson, AZ on June 9-11, 2027. We are now accepting abstract submissions for poster and podium presentations for the Access, Connection, Engagement Symposium describing programs, courses, initiatives, or evaluation strategies that characterize the conference theme, addressing the many changes and challenges in academic nursing programs.

NEW! Emerging Solutions Sessions

These immersive learning sessions dive deep into practical strategies for addressing academic nursing needs, blending expert insights, real-world case studies, peer-to-peer learning, and dynamic interaction. Submissions should describe a significant challenge and an intervention, program, policy, partnership, or system-level strategy implemented to address it, along with measurable outcomes or other evidence of impact. Abstracts may feature original research, quality improvement, evidence-based practice, or programmatic innovation and should offer practical insights that participants can adapt in their own settings.

Submissions must align with the symposium theme, Well-Being by Design: Shaping the Future of Academic Nursing and connect to at least one abstract topic.

Selected presenters will participate as members of an AACN-organized session, providing an opportunity to examine common challenges, compare approaches, and identify lessons that can inform practice across academic nursing.

Access, Connection, Engagement Symposium
Conference theme: "Well-Being by Design: Shaping the Future of Academic Nursing."

Submission Topics:

• Well-Being and the Future of Nursing
  Presentations may address burnout, moral distress, overwork, workload sustainability, retention, workforce stability, stress, wellness, recovery, and organizational practices that support healthier learning and work environments.

• Feeling Valued: Addressing Civility, Psychological Safety, and Professional Respect
  Focusing on developing strategies that reduce incivility, bullying, fear of speaking up, silence, disrespect, and harmful communication patterns in classrooms, clinical learning environments, simulation, advising, and practice settings. In addition, it addresses how academic and practice environments affirm the value, expertise, contributions, and lived experiences of students, staff, faculty, and nurses.

• Connection, Belonging, and Support Across the Education-to-Practice Continuum
  Presentations may explore how students, staff, faculty, and nurses in practice build meaningful relationships, reduce isolation, strengthen mentoring, support peer connection, and create communities where individuals feel seen and included. Academic-practice partnerships and structures that help all community members feel prepared and supported.

• Preparedness and Progression Across the Education-to-Practice Continuum
  Presentations may address advising, mentoring, clinical preparation, transition to practice, faculty development, staff support, academic-practice partnerships, and structures that help individuals feel prepared and supported.

• Systems-Level Approaches to Retention and Sustainability
  Presentations may focus on institutional, academic, and practice-based strategies that improve retention, reduce unnecessary burdens, address uneven experiences, and sustain the nursing workforce.

Please ensure that you have reviewed the submission guidelines and the scoring rubric before submitting your abstract.
For additional information about abstract submissions, Click Here.

To begin your abstract submission, please click “Join Now” below.