Current realities are forcing nursing leaders and educators to be innovative. As stated in a recent blog, "The global health crisis is crystalizing the need for policies that support universal access to learning resources."1 Strategies used to change an annual statewide research symposium from a face-to-face experience to a virtual event at a 434-bed Magnet^(R) redesignated community hospital met with success and increased access to the program. The virtual format was credited with the ability for representatives from all 9 hospitals in the statewide system to access the content. Feedback following the symposium suggested that participants who live at a distance from the hospital appreciated being able to attend the meeting without traveling, technical issues were promptly resolved, and presenters received positive evaluations.

For 15 years, this research symposium has offered hospital-based nurses, as well as other healthcare professionals, the opportunity to present their research findings. The traditional format included 8 to 10 presentations, a keynote address, and presentation of 2 research awards. In past years, consultants from the Nursing and Allied Health Research office along with representatives from nursing education and the Nursing Leadership Council have selected winners for each award. Historically, research consultants have worked with the event coordinator to identify presenters and assist in the writing of abstracts and development of presentations. Changing from an interactive experience to a virtual event did not influence the involvement of these consultants or members of the awards committee but did require considerable change in the model of delivery and speaker preparation.

Along with developing a different approach to conducting this symposium, a number of individuals, not traditionally involved, were enlisted in order to make the event a reality. These individuals included the director of hospital-based education, the coordinator of continuing medical/nursing education, an audiovisual technician, the eLearning administrator, and system-level information technicians (ITs). The program coordinator, who had guided all details of the previous symposiums, worked with these individuals as the team leader to plan and execute this virtual event.

The director of hospital-based education provided guidance regarding the timing of the symposium. Given the need to have presentations available for healthcare professionals at home as well as hospitals across the state and thus differing time zones, decisions regarding initiation and ending of presentations were of great importance. In addition, because of the new delivery model, the director of education recommended that the sessions be treated independently, one as a morning and one as an afternoon rather than one entire day. She advised grouping topics so that a different category of interest was highlighted at each session. For example, maternal/child health research was in the afternoon session, whereas the morning session focused on topics that are more global.

Given the virtual mode of delivery, special considerations were required for the symposium to qualify as a continuing education event per licensing board guidelines. The coordinator of continuing education provided guidance relative to these considerations by including required information in the symposium brochure and developing a strategy for how to capture professional license numbers for attendees. The eLearning administrator set up a registration process that enabled the development of a report on attendance and evaluation of presentations. During the process, another consideration was how to engage the remote participants. The Director of Education provided recommendations to include an opening polling question that was used to connect and provide perspective of those participants as well as the use of the chat box for questions and answers during and at the end of each presentation.

Audiovisual technicians were key to the success of the event. They assessed the equipment needs for a virtual experience and recommended renting additional equipment to provide clear, uninterrupted presentations. In addition, they were available to deal with any problems that could arise including from virtual attendees.

IT provided guidance on the method of delivery, that is, Zoom versus WebEx, explaining pros/cons of both. WebEx was selected for the virtual program. At the recommendation of IT, test sessions were scheduled for attendees to join using the same equipment as they would use the day of the program. The purpose was to troubleshoot and resolve issues for attendees, as well as becoming familiar with access. IT suggested securing locations at each of the 9 hospitals for staff to participate if they anticipated connectivity issues in the more rural areas of the state.

Even after cost of the rental audiovisual equipment and fees associated with hiring technicians, the virtual model resulted in a lower cost than the traditional in-person model. The in-person model included cost for staffing and food and beverage for attendees. Budget savings were significant enough that the organization offered the program free of charge to any employee of the healthcare system.

In summary, transitioning from a face-to-face research symposium to a 2-part virtual event was successful. Strong support from hospital administration as well as consultants in the Nursing and Allied Health Research office enabled committee members and other stakeholders to conduct a successful symposium. Through careful planning and interdisciplinary teamwork, supported by administration, the previous model for the symposium was enhanced. While both administrators and presenters look forward to in-person symposiums in the future, there were positive outcomes of this virtual experience that will be continued. For example, some participants, including many bedside care providers, preferred the virtual experience to traveling to the site of the symposium. Another positive outcome is the realization that, should another virtual event be necessary, this setting is well prepared to develop and conduct such an event.

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