On behalf of the European Operating Room Nurses Association (EORNA) it is my pleasure to invite perioperative colleagues to submit abstracts to be considered for presentation at the 5th EORNA Congress. The Congress will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from the 17th to 19th April 2009. The theme for the 2009 EORNA Congress is “Professional development - bridging perioperative care”.

Abstracts that address the following: latest clinical practice, education, research/evidence based practice, leadership and management, informatics, risk management, service development issues or any other recent trends and developments relevant to perioperative nursing, are welcome for education session proposals or for poster presentation.

Education sessions are designed to meet the needs of all practitioners from novice to experts. Clinical improvements and innovations describe implementation of creative ideas, resulting in improved productivity, efficiency and quality leading to safe patient outcomes. EORNA Congress offers an opportunity to review recent research studies and evaluate the findings for application in their own perioperative settings.

All accepted papers will be allowed about twenty minutes for presentation and be included in the EORNA Congress Proceedings. Audience can range from less than 100 to more than 1000 participants.

Poster presentations will be displayed at EORNA Congress. Posters are an effective method of communicating in a public forum. They represent ideas in a graphical format, are interactive and generate discussion between poster authors and colleagues in the perioperative position.

All accepted papers will be included in the EORNA Congress Proceedings. Further guidelines for poster format will be given in an acceptance letter.

The abstract submission system will open on the 1st March 2008 and the deadline for abstract submission is 31st May 2008.

For information visit our website: www.eornacongress.eu. Abstracts from countries outside EORNA are to be submitted to the same website address.

The proposals may be submitted for oral or poster presentations. If your abstract is not accepted for oral presentation it could be accepted as poster presentation. Please inform us if you would like your abstract to be considered for presentation in an alternative format.

Enquiries regarding abstract submissions and general issues should be sent to DIS Congress Service
Helle Klestrup
e-mail: hek@discongress.com

Submissions that do not meet the criteria outlined in the Call for Abstracts may not be reviewed. Acceptability of each proposal will be reviewed and rated on the structure and clarity of the proposal content and the relationship of learning objectives to the proposal's content.

All submissions are retained by EORNA Congress.

Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their submission by the end of September after the review process is complete. The proposal accepted for the EORNA Congress programme receive 20% discount for one person as financial support for expenses from EORNA Congress. The accepted presenter has to register for the Congress in good time.

Abstracts should be written in English. All presentations will be in English. There will be one way interpretation to Spanish, Italian, French and Danish.

The scientific programme will be broken down on following areas:

• Scientific research

• Clinical practice

• Leadership / management

• Education

• Other

1. The presentation should be a premiere one, produced specifically for the EORNA 2009 Congress.

2. Include the following information: Title of the abstract, name(s) of author(s), presenter(s) information and institute. A short biography of the presenters is needed.

3. All the abstract should include:

• Background, focus of interest, theoretical framework – presenting relevant literature references, conclusions and implications for perioperative nursing.

4. The abstracts concerning research, empirical studies or evidence-based practice should include:

• Background, purpose of the study, goals, research problems, brief description on methodology, theoretical framework -presenting relevant literature references, results and the implications for perioperative nursing.

5. Key words should be mentioned in a special area in the abstract submission system.

6. All abbreviations must be defined the first time used.

7. EORNA Congress accepts submissions with abstracts of maximum of 250 words featuring research/evidence based practice, clinical improvements/innovations or informational topics.

If you want to withdraw an abstract please contact the Congress administrator.
DIS Congress Service
Helle Klestrup
e-mail: hek@discongress.com

Abstracts will only be accepted if they fulfil all of the above criteria and are received by the stated deadline.

The abstract submission system will open on the 1st March 2008. The deadline for poster and education sessions proposal abstracts submission is 31st May 2008.
Submissions received after the date listed above will not be considered.

Position	Name	Association	Country	E-mail address
Chairperson	Merja Fordell	FORNA	Finland	merja.fordell@eorna.eu
Members	Petra Ebbeke	DBFK	Germany	petra.ebbeke@eorna.eu
	Yael Edry	IPNA	Israel	yael.edry@eorna.eu
	Ahuva Friedman	IPNA	Israel
	Helga Guðrún Hallgrímsdóttir	ISORNA	Iceland	Helga.Hallgrimsdottir@eorna.eu
	Karen Rickards	AFPP	United Kingdom	karen.rickards@eorna.eu
	Annica Sandelin	SEORNA	Sweden	annica.sandelin@eorna.eu

Yours Sincerely

Merja Fordell
Chairperson Scientific Committee EORNA Congress 2009