Guidelines for report writing

Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand wants to ensure that all NZNO national and regional section conferences, seminars and other important gatherings are reported in the magazine. Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand staff are able to attend very few of these conferences and believe it is good for those attending to report on them. These guidelines are designed to help you write a short news report on the conference/meeting/seminar to be run on the section/ college news pages of Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand. If all the information requested in these guidelines is contained in the report then that makes our job much easier and ensures accurate coverage of the event. And it is important to get the report to Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand staff as soon as possible after the event to ensure topicality.

A short news report (maximum 500 words) does not have to include the contents of papers presented at the conference. If there were outstanding presentations worthy of further coverage in Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand we would like to be told so we can negotiate with the author about publishing part or all of such papers. Those with a strong nursing focus are obviously of most interest.

Things to consider when writing your report:

  • What organisation/committee/section ran the conference?
  • What was the theme of the conference?
  • How many attended the conference?
  • Where was it held? (Just the city not the venue)
  • Did anyone special open the conference eg. a Government Minister, a life member of the section?
  • Who were the main speakers (ensure correct spelling of names, check with the speaker if unsure)? What are their positions? Where are they from ie. hospital, university, research institute, polytechnic? What were the topics of their papers/speeches?
  • If any of the papers/speeches contain something of major significance, highlight that eg, if a leading authority on nosocomial infections told the infection control nurses' conference that a prophylactic dose of penicillin given to every patient on admission dramatically reduced nosocomial infections over a trial period, thats NEWS and is worth covering.
  • If there are any photos from the conference please post or email them to Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand as photos make a story much more interesting.
  • Include the report writers name and contact phone numbers, email address or fax numbers so we can query any details if we need to.

Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand staff retain the right to edit copy as they see fit.