The past few years have made it clear: nurses are superheroes. As a nurse, you're committed to providing top-notch care for your patients. In the ever-evolving field of healthcare, this means honing your skills by participating in continuing education opportunities. Nursing conferences are a great way to level up your skills, earn the CEUs you need, and connect with other nurses.
Conferences are educational, fun, and exciting, but they can also interrupt busy work schedules and involve registration and travel costs. To help you make the most informed decisions for your career goals, schedule, and budget, we've rounded up information on best nursing conferences in 2024. Check out all the different conferences you could attend, as well as tips for how to make the most of them.
List of Nursing Conferences in 2024 by Specialty
Below, you'll find a list of the best nursing conferences by specialty, so you can choose the event that fits your unique needs. And there's something for everyone--nursing students, leaders, educators, and more.
Critical Care Nursing Conference
National Teaching Institute (NTI) 2024
Date: May 19 (preconference), May 20–22 (full conference); June 10–12 (virtual)
Location: Denver, CO
Cost: $345–$860
What to Expect: Each year, the American Association of Critical Care Nurses joins NTI to offer progressive and critical care nurses the most up-to-date information on almost 50 conference topics related to clinical and professional practice skills.
CEUs: More than 35 on-site; up to 200 post-conference (through the end of October).
Speakers/Topics: NTI 2024 features expert and motivational speakers and an extensive list of topics. Preconference sessions include a comprehensive pharmacology workshop, critical thinking in emergency situations, and a CCRN/PCCN prep course. Conference topics include compassionate withdrawal of life support, reducing bacterial infections, and managing heart failure.
Handle/Hashtag: @AACNme, #NTI2024
ER Nursing Conference
Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) Emergency Nursing 2024
Date: September 4-7
Location: Las Vegas, NV
What to Expect: This is an opportunity for emergency nurses to meet and explore the latest research about emergency medicine. They can take advantage of dozens of sessions as well as an Experience Hall featuring many industry partners.
Speakers/Topics: Topics are TBA for 2024. Past topics have included brain trauma, stroke care, blood loss, considerations for transgender patients, patient education, and emergency medical professionals in the global workforce.
Handle/Hashtag: @ENAorg
Nurse Practitioner Conference
Nurse Practitioner Associates for Continuing Education (NPACE) Conferences
Date: February 21 (virtual), March 18-21 (Hilton Head, SC), May 14-16 (Clearwater, FL), June 6-7 (virtual), August 25-28 (Boston, MA), September 19-20 (virtual), October 8-10 (North Falmouth, MA), November 4-7 (Dana Point, CA)
Location: Various offerings, check dates for each location
Cost: $50–$995
What to Expect: World nursing education leader NPACE offers nurse practitioners a range of conferences comprising day-long and two-day virtual events as well as three- to four-day pharmacology, acute care, and primary care conferences. Whether attending a three-day or four-day event, attendees are welcome to engage in lively conversation with speakers to learn more about offered topics.
CEUs: 5 (one-day virtual); 16+ (three-day in-person); 20-24 (four-day in-person).
Speakers/Topics: Speakers for 2024 include Gary Graf, MSN; Mimi Secor, DNP; Charrita Ernewein, PhD; and Jen Carlquist, PA-C. Topics include prescribing opioids, treating sleep disorders, prescribing antibiotics in outpatient care, and reviewing updates in GI pharmacology.
Handle/Hashtag: @NPACE_org
Psychiatric Nursing Conference
American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) 38th Annual Conference
Date: October 9-12
Location: Louisville, KY
Cost: Typically between $600–$950
What to Expect: This large national conference attracts psychiatric mental health nurses and other psychiatric nursing professionals at all career levels. It is open as well to any professional who is “passionate about providing care to the psychiatric-mental health population.” The APNA’s 38th Annual Conference is titled “Bringing Connection to Life for Ourselves, Those We Serve, and Each Other.”
CEUs: Earn up to 115 contact hours for certification or licensure renewal.
Speakers/Topics: TBA (abstracts accepted beginning in January).
Handle/Hashtag: @AmerPsychNurses, #PMHNCon
Medical-Surgical Nursing Conference
Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN) Annual Convention
Date: September 12-24
Location: Toronto, ONT
Cost: Typically between $321–$748
What to Expect: Presented by the AMSN, this national conference invites nurses who provide surgical care to come together for networking, education, and the latest medical-surgical nursing research.
Speakers/Topics: While the 2024 lineup is still in the works, last year’s opening speaker was Joyce Batcheller on disruptive innovation. The focus was on how updated practices and the latest research can deliver better care to patients.
Handle/Hashtag: @MedSurgNurses
Trauma Nursing Conference
TraumaCon 2024: Society of Trauma Nurses
Date: April 10-12
Location: Orlando, FL
Cost: Typically between $400–$700
What to Expect: TraumaCon offers trauma nurses educational programs, networking opportunities, and access to the latest research in trauma nursing, all aimed at empowering these nursing professionals to return to their careers ready to provide optimal care to trauma patients.
Speakers/Topics: The 2024 schedule is still being planned, but you might expect something similar to last year’s TraumaCon. This included a plenary session on the topic of “Preventing Workplace Violence: One Trauma Center’s Experience.” Sessions explored pediatric trauma, geriatric trauma, professional branding, pediatric bariatric trauma patients, and how trauma registries can help identify community gun violence trends.
Handle/Hashtag: @SocTraumaNurses
Nursing Educators Conferences
ANCC National Magnet Conference & ANCC Pathway to Excellence Conference
Date: October 30-November 1
Location: New Orleans, LA
Cost: TBA
What to Expect: Sponsored by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), this conference provides a wide range of educational topics, networking opportunities, and updates on research and evidence-based practices. It is appropriate for nurses and nurse administrators from all types of organizations, including in-patient, out-patient, and school settings.
CEUs: Typically between 28-44 CNEs
Speakers/Topics: TBA. Sessions focus on how to align nursing organizations with the ANCC’s Magnet Recognition and Pathway to Excellence programs in order to foster supportive practice environments. Topics from the 2023 conference included combating burnout, leadership development, and holistic models of care.
Handle/Hashtag: #NCPDSummit
National Nurse Educator Summit
Date: April 7-10
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Cost: $495–$995
What to Expect: This conference is designed for nursing educators who have a passion for learning and who want to share that passion and commitment with others. In addition to the sessions, the program offers interactive workshops and three days of networking opportunities. In-person and virtual options are available.
CEUs: Typically 12+ contact hours
Speakers/Topics: The 2024 conference focuses on critical issues for healthcare and healthcare education. These include promoting the profession, recruiting and supporting educators, providing quality care with patient safety and closing the gap between practice and academics.
Handle/Hashtag: @NursingSummit
Nursing Education Conferences
National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) Annual Institute & Conference
Date: July 23-28
Location: San Francisco, CA
Cost: Typically between $300–$900
What to Expect: The NBNA acknowledges the critical roles black nurses play in reducing disparities and advancing health equity in nursing practice, education, research, policy advocacy, and entrepreneurship. Its annual conference offers participants access to continuing education, career development, leadership enhancement, and mentorship and networking opportunities, as well as corporate roundtables that “lean in” to fresh ideas to perpetuate and encourage innovative knowledge sharing with a purpose-driven focus.
CEUs: Up to 20 contact hours
Speakers/Topics: TBA. The 2023 conference covered topics pertaining to the criticality of innovation, the concept of the “built environment” both in general and specific to racial and ethnic minorities, emerging models, key concepts in mentorship, new approaches for effective community engagement, and the latest trends and issues affecting health equity and social justice.
Handle/Hashtag: @nbnainc
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN): Transform 2024
Date: December 4-5 (pre-conference); December 5-7 (full conference)
Location: New Orleans, LA
Cost: Typically between $300–$900
What to Expect: The AACN’s annual Transform conference brings together nursing faculty members, deans, leaders, and associate/assistant deans to network, discuss the latest in nursing education, and delve into the newest nursing education research.
CEUs: Yes; specific details TBA.
Speakers/Topics: Previous topics have included leadership, excellence and innovation in academic nursing as well as the latest developments affecting nursing education. There has also been an emphasis on equity, diversity and inclusion.
Handle/Hashtag: @AACNursing
Nursing Leadership & Technology Conferences
American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) 2024
Date: April 8-11
Location: New Orleans, LA
Cost: Typically between $550–$1,550
What to Expect: The premier event for nurse leaders, AONL offers participants the opportunity to interact with both experts and other attendees in a variety of formats, including small group discussions, lectures, manned poster sessions, and quick five-minute oral presentations.
Speakers/Topics: TBA. Last year’s AONL conference themes included innovation in care delivery, how to lead in challenging times, equity, diversity and protecting the mental well-being of frontline staff and their leaders.
Handle/Hashtag: @TweetAONL
2024 American Nursing Informatics Association (ANIA) Annual Conference
Date: May 9-11
Location: Chicago, IL
Cost: Typically between $600–$800
What to Expect: The ANIA conference offers nurses opportunities to learn about the latest techniques in using data and analytics to inform medical decisions while networking with like-minded informatics nursing colleagues.
CEUs: Up to 11.25 contact hours
Speakers/Topics: Session topics fall within five education tracks: impact on practice, innovation in practice, leadership strategies, quality improvement and patient outcomes, and role and career development. Speakers for 2024 include Kelly Aldrich, DNP, MS (“How Nursing Informatics Leads Innovation”); Christian Dameff, MD, and Jeff Tully, MD (“The Next Frontier – Exploring the Opportunities of Healthcare Cybersecurity and Nursing Informatics”); and Paul Coyne, DNP, MBA (“Innovation at the Bedside and Beyond”).
Handle/Hashtag: @ANIAinformatics
Pediatric Nursing Conferences
45th National Conference on Pediatric Health Care
Date: March 13-16
Location: Denver, CO
Cost: $290–$755
What to Expect: This conference, sponsored by the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP), is geared for pediatric nurses, especially those employed in primary, acute, and special care settings. Workshops take a deeper look at key topics in these areas.
CEUs: 20 contact hours
Speakers/Topics: Sessions focus on specific ways to enhance the primary, acute, and specialty care practices of pediatric nurse practitioners. Sample topics and speakers in 2024 include pediatric psychopharmacology (Joanne M. Howard, MSN, RN, and Anne Craig, MSN, RN); sports-related concussions (Traci Snedden, PhD, RN); pediatric weight management (Amy Bartoshesky, FNP-BC, and Suzanne Paul, FNP-C); and Lyme disease testing and treatment (Ashley Gyura, DNP, CPNP-PC).
Handle/Hashtag: @NAPNAP #NAPNAConf
Society of Pediatric Nurses (SPN) 34rd Annual Conference
Date: April 17-19
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Cost: $320–$935
What to Expect: This conference offers speakers, workshops, presentations, and exhibits that share the latest information in pediatric care. Its learning objectives for attendees include learning best practices to improve patients’ outcomes, learning at least one evidence-based practice to introduce in the workplace, and creating professional development plans.
CEUs: Up to 24 contact hours
Speakers/Topics: TBA for the main conference. Pre-conference workshops for 2024 include “Recharge and Thrive: Mastering Mindfulness” (Nika Gueci, EdD, MA); “Identification and Response to Human Trafficking in the Healthcare Environment” (Jason Spees, MSN, MaOM); and “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion World Cafe” (DeAnna Hawkins, DNP, RN, and Amanda Combs, MBA, MSN).
Handle/Hashtag: @PedsNurses
International Nursing Conferences
International Nursing Conference
Date: October 17-19, 2024
Location: Baltimore, MD, USA or virtually
Cost: Ranges from $839 to $1039 in person. Virtual attendees can participate for $739.
What to Expect: With the theme of “Pioneering research strategies for nursing excellence,” speakers, researchers, and professionals will share their latest research and advancements in the field of nursing. Nurses will gain insights on the latest trends in nursing practices from around the world, as well as scientific responses to numerous worldwide health and safety concerns.
Speakers/Topics: Expect to hear discussions on enhancing the quality and safety of patient care and the effectiveness of delivering healthcare at a global level. Topics will also include nurse coaching within the hospital, nursing retention, and value based care.
International Conference on Travel Nursing Practice & Management (ICTNPM)
Date: August 9-10
Location: New York City, NY
Cost: $275–$550
What to Expect: This digital international conference gathers travel nurses from around the world to share information, best practices, and the latest innovations with one another. (This is just one of the many global events covering a variety of nursing topics.)
Speakers/Topics: The 2023 topics included understanding comorbidities using modeling techniques on EHR, factors influencing nutritional status of people living with HIV/AIDS, Reinke’s oedema, pretreatment MRI for intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients, and myofascial release technique for sacroiliac joint hypo-mobility in postnatal women.
Handle/Hashtag: @wasetorg
30th International Congress on Nursing & Primary Health Care
Date: February 22-23
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Cost: $349–$1,399
What to Expect: Nurses from around the world come together to discuss the latest trends and innovations in nursing and primary care. Researchers in various nursing specialties share their findings from the past year.
Speakers/Topics: Speakers include Dan C. Martin, MD; Megan McNeil, PA-C; Gwyn Richardson, MD; Dr. Taher H. Khalil; Brian Keevil, University of Louisville; Franco Maria Buonaguro, Istituto Nazionale, Tumori, Italy; and Kathleen Kenney-Riley, Mercy College. Topics fall within a number of education tracks, including nursing education, cardiac nursing, emergency and ambulatory care, and surgical nursing.
World Congress on Nursing Education & Practice
Date: June 26-28
Location: Prague, Czech Republic (or virtual presentation option)
Cost: $440–$1,320
What to Expect: This international conference invites researchers, educators, and nursing professionals around the world to come together to explore the connections between research and practice.
Speakers/Topics: Topics include teaching, curricula, learning methods, learning outcomes, nursing programs, and clinical experiences. Panelists include senior nurse researchers, advanced practice nurses, and nurse clinicians. See the list of speakers.
An Overview of Nursing Conferences
There are almost as many types of nursing conferences as there are nurses. Some are geared for nurse specialists; others are more general. But almost all will include topics such as patient safety, advanced nursing practice, technology changes, traditional medicine, alternative healthcare, and much more.
Healthcare professionals learn not only from subject-expert presenters but also from other colleagues. Hearing another nurse's experience dealing with family members, for instance, might be the most valuable lesson you receive.
One of the first steps in deciding which conference is right for you is to consider your personal needs and career goals.
The Benefits of Attending a Nursing Conference
Attending a nursing conference promises many benefits. Understanding these benefits can help you commit to this vital continuing education offering, whether you’re a travel nurse, registered nurse, midwife nurse educator, nursing clinical director, nurse manager, or any other type of nursing professional.
For starters, evidence-based practices are always changing. Attending a nursing conference is one of the best ways for everyone – from young researchers to community health workers – to keep up with new nursing practices, processes, and products. This is true no matter what specialty you’re in.
Furthermore, most states require licensed nursing professionals to participate in continuing education courses. Many nursing conferences count as continuing education hours you can apply toward your state’s requirements.
In addition, certain conferences can help you earn certifications within areas of nursing specialization. Adding a certification to your resume can help you land a job, boost your salary, or increase your responsibilities at work.
And although attending a nursing conference is not without some expense, many employers will subsidize or cover the cost of attending. In this case, attending a nursing conference is a win-win. However, if cost remains a concern, digital offerings are available at a significantly reduced cost.
Goals of Nursing Conferences
Why do nursing professionals go to conferences? Here are some common objectives nurses have for attending:
- Accruing continuing education credits
- Learning new strategies and trending issues
- Listening to exceptional speakers
- Attending social events to meet nurses and share career highs, lows, and advice
- Global networking and collecting contacts for growing their team or looking for a new job
How to Prepare for a Nursing Conference
Register Early
Many conferences offer discounts for those who register early. Committing early also allows you to block off your time away from the workplace and schedule any necessary replacements ahead of time.
Book Lodging & Transportation
You can also save by booking your hotel early or using the discounted conference rate.
Plan Your Itinerary
Look carefully at the conference brochure and plan which events you will attend. Register for those that meet your goals and consider one that might help you personally or professionally, outside of your current job. Don't forget to allow time for networking, socializing, and rest. Gaining so much information in a short time can be exhausting.
Decide Which Vendors to See
Vendors can help you discover new trends, technologies, and products that you’re too busy in your day-to-day work life to research yourself. They can also help you reassess products you already use but that might need an upgrade, such as malpractice insurance. Go through the vendor list, highlight the ones that appeal to you, and mark where they’ll be on the floor plan.
Print a Map
Many large conferences are located in sprawling cities or spread across several buildings. Print a map ahead of time so you'll know where to find sessions, vendors, lodging, and parking.
What to Pack for a Conference
You'll want to pack several essentials for your conference:
- A phone charger
- Business cards
- Water and snacks (if your conference doesn't already provide them)
- Comfortable and professional shoes and clothing. You'll be spending a lot of time standing and walking, but you'll want to look professional too.
- A notebook or computer. You'll want to take notes in sessions to share with colleagues and to remind yourself of what you’ve learned.
Final Thoughts: Best Practices for Making the Most of Nursing Conferences
This list of best nursing conferences is just the start. Whatever your interests or goals, organizations like the National League for Nursing, National Association of Hispanic Nurses, Association of Rehabilitation Nurses, offer annual meetings and national and international conferences on emerging research in many areas that can enhance your nursing career.
One last thing to keep in mind about nursing conferences: what you get out of them often comes down to what you put into them. That’s why it’s so important to prepare for each conference by identifying your specific goals, planning your itinerary, packing appropriately, and taking advantage of the many networking opportunities.
But why let the knowledge sharing end with the conclusion of the conference? Commit to sharing your learnings with your community (both in-person and online) to maximize the impact of nursing conferences.
Image courtesy of iStock.com/fizkes