A poster compresses months of project work into one page that a passer-by understands in under a minute. This guide covers what to include, how to lay it out, how to show results visually, and how to present it with confidence at a school showcase or conference.
Quick answer. A strong project poster tells one clear story: the problem, what you did, what changed and why it matters. Keep text short, let a chart carry the results, follow your school or conference template exactly, and prepare a 60-second verbal summary.
Dissemination is an expected part of most DNP projects, and a poster is the most common first step. Many programs hold a project showcase, and the same poster can often be adapted for a professional nursing conference, a hospital research day or a quality fair at your practice site. A clear poster also helps your project be adopted, because unit leaders and colleagues can see the outcome at a glance.
Most project posters follow the structure of the project itself. Adjust headings to match your school's template.
| Section | What to include | Approx. words |
|---|---|---|
| Title, authors, affiliations | Short, specific title; your name, credentials, faculty mentor, institution | – |
| Background and problem | The local problem and its significance, with one or two key statistics | 75 to 125 |
| Purpose / PICOT | The project question or aim | 25 to 50 |
| Evidence / literature | Brief synthesis of the evidence supporting the intervention | 75 to 125 |
| Framework | Theory or EBP model guiding the project, ideally as a small diagram | 25 to 50 |
| Methods and intervention | Setting, sample, intervention, measures, timeline | 100 to 150 |
| Results | Key outcomes, shown mostly as charts or tables | 75 to 125 plus visuals |
| Discussion / implications | What the results mean for practice, sustainability, limitations | 75 to 125 |
| Conclusion | One or two sentences: the take-home message | 25 to 50 |
| References and acknowledgments | Small font; abbreviated list or QR code if allowed | – |
Bullet points work better than paragraphs. If a sentence does not help a reader understand the project in one minute, it belongs in your final paper, not the poster.
Conference halls are full of long, passive titles. A good title names the intervention, population and outcome in plain language.
| Weak | Stronger |
|---|---|
| An Evidence-Based Practice Project Examining the Implementation of a Protocol | Nurse-Driven Catheter Removal Protocol Reduces CAUTI on a Medical-Surgical Unit |
| Improving Outcomes Through Education | Teach-Back Discharge Education and 30-Day Heart Failure Readmissions |
Check whether your program allows a results-stating title. Some prefer neutral wording until outcomes are formally evaluated.
Always start from your school's or conference's template and size requirements. Common printed formats are 36 x 48 inches or 48 x 36 inches (landscape is more common), and many conferences now accept or require e-posters on screens.
| Element | Typical font size (36 x 48 in poster) |
|---|---|
| Title | About 72 to 100 pt |
| Author line | About 36 to 48 pt |
| Section headings | About 36 to 48 pt |
| Body text | About 24 to 32 pt |
| Captions and references | About 18 to 20 pt |
Test readability by printing a section at 100% scale on letter paper, or viewing the file at full size on screen and stepping back.
Share your final paper, results and template. A specialist can help write the poster text, choose the right charts and tighten the layout content. The price is shown before you pay.
Readers look at the chart first. Choose the visual that matches your data:
| Data | Best visual |
|---|---|
| Pre- and post-intervention comparison | Side-by-side bar chart with the change labeled |
| Change over time (QI project) | Run chart or control chart with the intervention start marked |
| Knowledge or survey scores | Bar chart of means or a simple table |
| Compliance rates | Line or bar chart with the target line shown |
| Qualitative themes | A small table of themes with one short illustrative quote each |
For QI projects, our guide to run charts and statistical process control explains how to present time-series results.
PowerPoint, set to a single slide at the required poster size, is the most common tool and is what most templates use. Other options include Google Slides, Canva and Adobe tools. Export to high-quality PDF for printing. Order from a university print service or a commercial printer several days before the event; fabric posters fold for travel, while paper posters need a tube.
Most of your impact comes from conversation, not the poster itself.
Bring a small handout or a QR code linking to a summary, if allowed, and have business cards or contact details ready for people interested in your work.
For external conferences, the poster is usually accepted on the strength of a submitted abstract, often 250 to 350 words with headings such as background, purpose, methods, results and implications. Write it to the conference's exact format, report real results (or clearly state they are preliminary), and keep the title consistent with the poster you will bring.
Aim for roughly 500 to 1,000 words in total. Use bullet points and visuals so a viewer can grasp the project in about a minute.
36 x 48 inches is a common size, usually in landscape orientation, but always follow your school's or conference's requirements.
Often yes, if your abstract is accepted. Check the conference's rules on previously presented work, and check with your site and program about permission to share organizational results.
Yes, usually in a small font at the bottom, or as an abbreviated list. Some conferences allow a QR code to a full reference list.
The best project posters are not the most decorated; they are the clearest. One question, one intervention, one visual result and one take-home message, delivered in a minute. Build the poster around that story, and your conversations at the session will take care of the rest. When you are ready to go further, our guide to submitting your project as a manuscript covers publication.