The focused use of posters for graduate education in the complex technological nursing environment

Creating effective poster presentations: AMEE Guide no. 40

Poster presentations have become an important part of professional meetings and are recognized as valuable tools for teaching and assessment. An effective poster is a visual communication tool that will help you engage colleagues in conversation, convey your main point to large numbers of people, and advertise your work. An effective poster is a highly condensed version of a research paper constructed primarily of visual displays of data with just enough supporting text to provide context, interpretation, and conclusions. A new AMEE Guide, 'Creating Effective Poster Presentations', provides guidance and is illustrated with annotated examples.

The poster presentation: what value to the teaching and assessment of research in pre- and post-registration nursing courses?

Poster presentations have proved to be a popular method of displaying information at conferences, and are being used increasingly as a teaching method. Innovative strategies for teaching and assessing research need to facilitate students' achievement of research skills required for practice. These are outlined by the Department of Health, and emphasize the development of research literacy. Using the poster presentation as a teaching and assessing strategy on diploma level courses (Project 2000 and ENB 870 introduction to the Understanding and Application of Research) has proved to be valuable in developing vital research awareness skills and in harnessing enthusiasm for research. Students imply a sense of achievement gained through the process of developing the poster and the production of the poster itself. Herein lies the value of the poster presentation, for it allows the development of crucial research literacy skills which can be widely used in professional practice and future professional education.

The impact of the technological care environment on the nursing role

Proliferation of acute health care technology creates problems and benefits for nurses and patients. In this paper the impact of technology on the nursing work role is reviewed through the international literature. The thrust of the nursing literature has, not surprisingly, matured over time as the use of technology has become well established in the acute care environment, and three themes can be identified. The implications for acute care nurse specialists, including their educational needs, are set in context of the Australian health care system, with particular reference to the cardiac care environments.

The use of posters in the teaching of biological sciences on an undergraduate nursing course

Posters are commonly used at research conferences for communicating information and in education as an alternative way of teaching and assessing students. We report the use of posters as a means of teaching and assessing part of the biological sciences component of an undergraduate nursing course. Tutors felt it was a valuable exercise enabling students to develop a number of skills, alongside the learning and revision of knowledge, including working as a team, condensing information and word and graphic processing. Students evaluated the exercise as being challenging but rewarding and preferred to be assessed by this method than by oral presentations or examinations. Lecturers and guided study/tutorials were preferred to posters as teaching methods.