AACN NTI 2026 — San Diego in May

AACN NTI 2026 brings 8,000 to 10,000 critical care nurses, ICU clinicians, nurse managers, and clinical educators to San Diego May 17 to 20, making it the single largest concentration of critical care nursing talent anywhere in the world for those four days. For hospital nurse recruiters, travel nursing agencies, and in-house TA teams at health systems, NTI is not a peripheral event. It is the most important critical care nursing conference on the annual calendar, and for employers with ICU, CVICU, NICU, PICU, or step-down vacancies, it is the densest window of the year to have real career conversations with the exact nurses they need to hire. This guide covers what AACN NTI is, who attends, what the conference floor looks like for employers and staffing teams, how to prepare as a recruiter, where to stay in San Diego, what the educational program covers, how the workforce and technology conversations on the floor are shifting in 2026, and what to expect at the 2026 edition. It also explains how Expa helps healthcare employers identify, engage, and follow up with critical care nurses in the markets where they are hiring, without losing the warm contacts they collected in San Diego to a chaotic post-conference inbox.

TL;DR — Key facts about AACN NTI 2026

• AACN NTI 2026 runs May 17 to 20, 2026 at the San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA
• Expected attendance: 8,000 to 10,000 critical care nurses, ICU clinicians, nurse managers, and clinical educators
• Hosted by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), a specialty nursing organization with more than 130,000 members
• The largest critical care nursing conference in the world, now in its fifth decade
• Open registration for nurses and healthcare professionals through AACN's website; AACN member pricing available, with significant savings for early-bird registrants and group registrations
• San Diego hotels near the convention center sell out quickly; the AACN housing block typically closes weeks before the event
• For recruiters: the highest concentration of critical care nursing talent in one place all year, spanning ICU, CVICU, NICU, PICU, progressive care, and emergency nursing
• CE credits toward CCRN, PCCN, CMC, CSC, and other AACN certifications are a primary draw, alongside state nursing license continuing education requirements
• The Critical Care Exposition typically hosts 300 to 400 exhibitors, including health systems, staffing agencies, medical device makers, and clinical education vendors
• Most attendees are active RNs working bedside, with a meaningful minority in charge nurse, educator, manager, and director roles

What is AACN NTI?

The AACN National Teaching Institute and Critical Care Exposition, known as NTI, is the largest critical care nursing conference in the world. Organized by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, it brings together ICU nurses, progressive care nurses, clinical educators, nurse managers, and nurse leaders each spring for continuing education, peer learning, hands-on clinical training, and certification review. It is the flagship professional development event for anyone whose career centers on caring for the sickest patients in the hospital.

NTI has been AACN's flagship event for decades, and attendance has grown steadily. Attendees come from every US state and internationally, representing specialties across intensive care, emergency nursing, cardiovascular ICU, NICU, PICU, step-down units, and rapid response teams. International delegations from Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Middle East, and Asia are a visible part of the attendee base. The exposition floor runs alongside the educational program, with employers, staffing agencies, medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, clinical education publishers, and technology vendors exhibiting throughout the four days.

For anyone recruiting in critical care nursing, NTI is the single most important conference of the year. There is no other in-person event that combines this volume of qualified ICU nurses, this level of engagement with professional development, and this openness to career conversations. Recruiters who miss NTI are effectively conceding several months of pipeline to competitors who show up.

When and where is AACN NTI 2026?

AACN NTI 2026 takes place May 17 to 20, 2026 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. The venue sits on the downtown waterfront, directly on San Diego Bay, within walking distance of the Gaslamp Quarter and the main hotel blocks used by conference attendees. The convention center is purpose-built for large events, with enough exhibit hall space to accommodate the Critical Care Exposition and enough breakout rooms to run the dozens of concurrent sessions that make up the educational program.

Pre-conference workshops are typically offered on the day before the main program opens. These include certification review courses for the CCRN and PCCN credentials, hands-on skills labs, and deep-dive clinical intensives. They require separate registration, and the most popular ones sell out in advance. The main program then runs four days with morning keynotes, concurrent breakout sessions, poster presentations, and exposition hours structured to protect attendee time on the floor. Check AACN's official site for the current schedule as dates are confirmed.

Who attends AACN NTI?

What types of nurses and clinicians attend?

The attendee base is primarily registered nurses working in critical care and high-acuity settings. This includes ICU nurses across specialties, cardiovascular ICU nurses, NICU and PICU nurses, progressive care and step-down nurses, and nurses in trauma and emergency settings. Clinical educators, nursing professional development specialists, and advanced practice nurses working in acute care also attend in significant numbers. Nurse managers and nursing directors come both for leadership education and to represent their organizations. A smaller but influential cohort of Chief Nursing Officers, Chief Nursing Informatics Officers, and academic faculty members attend to track the direction of the profession and recruit for their own institutions.

Do recruiters and staffing agencies attend AACN NTI?

Yes. Hospital nurse recruiters, travel nursing agency staffers, in-house TA teams from health systems, and per diem staffing firms attend specifically because the candidate concentration is unmatched. For anyone placing critical care nurses, NTI is the most efficient in-person sourcing event of the year. The exposition floor gives recruiters structured access to attendees, and informal hallway conversations throughout the conference are equally valuable. Experienced recruiters plan their NTI around a mix of booth time, targeted session attendance where they know specific candidate cohorts will be present, evening receptions, and pre-scheduled coffee meetings with candidates identified beforehand.

Are employers and health systems represented?

Health systems, hospitals, and hospital networks send both clinical staff and HR or recruiting representatives. Magnet-designated hospitals often maintain a visible presence and use the Magnet brand as a recruiting anchor. Academic medical centers and large regional health systems use NTI to build brand recognition with the nursing community and to recruit for hard-to-fill specialty roles, especially in pediatric critical care, cardiovascular ICU, and transplant ICU. Government employers including VA medical centers and military health systems are typically on the floor. The mix of clinical attendees and employer representatives makes NTI one of the few conferences where a recruiting conversation can happen naturally without feeling out of place.

What specialties are most represented on the floor?

Medical and surgical ICU nurses make up the largest single block of attendees, followed by cardiovascular ICU and progressive care nurses. Pediatric ICU and neonatal ICU nurses are well represented in their own dedicated track. Emergency department and trauma nurses attend in meaningful numbers because of the overlap in clinical topics and certifications. Specialty populations that recruiters often underestimate include cardiovascular surgery ICU nurses, ECMO specialists, CRRT specialists, and transplant ICU nurses. These sub-specialties command significant premiums in both permanent and travel markets, and NTI is one of the few places where employers can consistently find them in volume.

What are the key themes at AACN NTI 2026?

What clinical and educational topics are in focus?

NTI is structured primarily around continuing education for nurses. Sessions cover clinical topics including hemodynamic monitoring, mechanical ventilation management, sepsis protocols, pain and sedation practices, end-of-life care, and new evidence in critical care nursing. Specialty tracks address cardiovascular critical care, pediatric critical care, neonatal critical care, progressive care, and emergency nursing. Leadership tracks address nurse manager development, building resilient ICU teams, and navigating high-turnover environments. CE credit is a major draw. Many nurses attend NTI specifically to meet their annual continuing education requirements and to prepare for or maintain CCRN, PCCN, CMC, and CSC certifications.

What workforce and staffing conversations happen at NTI?

Beyond clinical education, workforce topics surface consistently across sessions and informal conversations. Critical care nursing vacancy rates remain among the highest in the profession. ICU staffing ratios, nurse burnout in high-acuity environments, the pipeline of new graduates entering critical care, and the trade-off between higher compensation in travel roles and stability in permanent roles are persistent themes. Many attendees are actively weighing career decisions such as travel versus permanent, hospital versus outpatient, and whether to take on leadership roles. That openness makes NTI different from most professional conferences. A nurse walking the floor in San Diego is far more likely to engage a recruiter in a real conversation than the same nurse would be three months later at her home hospital.

How does technology and AI show up at NTI?

Technology sessions at NTI have grown significantly in the past three cycles. Topics include AI-enabled clinical decision support, smart infusion pump integration, remote ICU and tele-critical care workflows, predictive analytics for sepsis and deterioration, and the role of ambient documentation tools in reducing nurse charting burden. For recruiters, the important signal is that ICU nurses are increasingly fluent in these tools and increasingly aware of which employers are investing in them. Candidates at NTI 2026 will ask employers about nurse-to-patient ratios, charge nurse workflows, and the specific technologies in use at the bedside. Recruiters who can speak credibly about their employer's clinical technology stack have a meaningful advantage in conversations on the floor.

Why does AACN NTI matter for healthcare recruiting?

Why is NTI the best time of year to reach critical care nurses?

Critical care nurses are among the hardest clinical roles to fill year-round. They are highly specialized, in constant demand, and rarely responsive to cold outreach. NTI temporarily shifts that dynamic. Nurses attend with professional development on their minds and are more open to career conversations than at any other point in the year. A recruiter who has a genuine presence at NTI, on the expo floor, in sessions, or in hallway conversations, starts those conversations with far more credibility than any outbound email can provide. The context of the conference itself signals that the nurse is engaged in her profession and thinking about her career, which is the single best predictor of receptivity to a recruiter conversation.

What recruiting challenges do attendees face at NTI?

The challenge for most recruiting teams at NTI is the same as at any large clinical conference. They meet dozens or hundreds of nurses over four days and then struggle to follow up systematically once they are back home. Warm contacts go cold quickly. The average recruiter leaves a conference with a stack of business cards and good intentions, and follows up with a fraction of them before the window closes. For ICU roles where every qualified candidate matters, that drop-off is costly. A secondary challenge is prioritization. When you have 200 new contacts and only 40 hours of follow-up capacity, deciding who gets a personalized note first versus a batch message versus a drop to the back of the queue is the single biggest determinant of how much pipeline you actually create from the conference.

How do recruiters typically follow up after NTI?

The most effective post-conference outreach is fast, personal, and comes from a real email address. Nurses who attended NTI receive a lot of recruiting messages and recognize automated sequences immediately. A personalized note that references the specific conversation at the conference, sent from the recruiter's actual Gmail within 48 hours, dramatically outperforms any templated sequence. Recruiters using Ambient Recruiter can load their post-NTI contact list and have personalized follow-ups drafted and sent from their real inbox within hours of returning from San Diego, then run structured follow-up sequences that preserve the personal feel of the initial message through week two, week six, and beyond. The goal is not just the first message. It is keeping every conversation warm through the natural three to six month decision cycle that critical care nurses typically run before they make a move.

What types of roles are easiest to fill from NTI contacts?

Based on recruiter feedback, the roles that convert most efficiently from NTI pipeline are travel and contract ICU roles with near-term start dates, specialty ICU roles at Magnet hospitals, charge nurse and clinical lead roles for nurses who have been in staff roles for three or more years, and clinical educator roles for experienced ICU nurses looking to move off the bedside. Permanent staff RN roles at mid-sized community hospitals are harder, because NTI attendees tend to skew toward larger systems and academic centers. The roles that convert least efficiently are new graduate positions, since NTI's attendee base is heavy on experienced nurses, and roles requiring relocation to markets without a strong nursing reputation.

Travel and hotels

Where is AACN NTI 2026 being held?

AACN NTI 2026 is at the San Diego Convention Center, 111 W Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92101. The venue is on the waterfront in downtown San Diego, connected by walkway to the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina. The convention center is one of the largest on the West Coast, and AACN typically uses the entire footprint across exhibit halls, ballrooms, and upstairs meeting rooms. Navigating the venue is straightforward but covers a lot of ground, so comfortable shoes are non-negotiable.

What hotels are near AACN NTI 2026?

The closest option is the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina, directly connected to the convention center. Other nearby choices include the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, the Omni San Diego Hotel, and a range of options in the Gaslamp Quarter within a five to ten minute walk. Gaslamp Quarter hotels put attendees in walking distance of restaurants and evening events, which matters for recruiters hosting dinners. For attendees looking for lower price points, East Village and downtown San Diego have additional hotels within walking distance, and the Little Italy neighborhood is a short rideshare away with good restaurants and slightly better room rates. Rooms in the convention center area fill quickly during large nursing conferences, so book as early as possible, and confirm whether your reservation is inside or outside the AACN housing block since both have trade-offs on flexibility and price.

How do attendees get to AACN NTI 2026?

San Diego International Airport (SAN) is approximately 10 to 15 minutes from the convention center by rideshare or taxi, making it one of the more convenient conference airports in the country. Most out-of-town attendees fly into SAN. The San Diego Trolley Blue Line stops at the Convention Center station and connects to the airport via the Green Line with one transfer, making public transit a reasonable option for budget-conscious attendees. Local attendees often use rideshare or the convention center's parking facilities, which can get expensive across four days. Hotel-to-venue travel for most downtown and Gaslamp Quarter hotels is a walk, not a ride, which is one of the underrated benefits of San Diego as a conference city.

What is there to do in San Diego around NTI?

NTI's host city is one of the reasons attendance holds up year over year. Balboa Park, the San Diego Zoo, Coronado Island, La Jolla, and the Gaslamp Quarter are all within easy reach of the convention center, and many attendees build a day or two of personal travel on either side of the conference. For recruiters hosting dinners, the Gaslamp Quarter offers high-end steakhouses, modern seafood, and Mexican options within a few blocks of the main hotel block. Little Italy is a short rideshare away and typically has more availability on short notice. Waterfront locations along the Embarcadero work well for larger group dinners and receptions, though they book out early during conference weeks.

FAQs

Is AACN NTI 2026 open to the public?

NTI is open to nurses and healthcare professionals. Registration is available to both AACN members and non-members through AACN's website. Unlike invitation-only events, there is a public registration process, with member pricing available to AACN members. Students and academic partners typically have discounted tiers, and group rates apply for teams of three or more from the same organization. Day passes are also available for attendees who cannot commit to the full four days.

How many people attend AACN NTI?

Approximately 8,000 to 10,000 attendees each year, primarily registered nurses working in critical care and high-acuity settings across the United States. The mix skews bedside, with a meaningful minority in charge nurse, educator, manager, and director roles. International attendance typically runs in the several hundreds, with visible delegations from Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Middle East, and Asia. Exhibitor staff add another 1,000 to 1,500 people to the venue each day, which matters when thinking about floor traffic and hotel availability.

Can recruiters exhibit or sponsor at AACN NTI 2026?

Yes. The Critical Care Exposition that runs alongside the educational program includes a large exhibit hall. Healthcare employers and staffing agencies can exhibit, and sponsorship opportunities at multiple levels are available through AACN's exhibitor portal. Typical booth sizes range from 10x10 to 20x30 with options for larger custom footprints. Sponsorship packages span bag inserts, lanyards, keynote sponsorships, session sponsorships, and branded lounges. Premium inventory typically sells out several months before the conference, and first-time exhibitors are often better served pairing a modest booth with a single targeted sponsorship than stretching the budget on square footage alone.

What is the career fair like at AACN NTI?

AACN typically provides a career center and job board for attendees. Nurses who are actively exploring opportunities visit these resources throughout the conference, and employers can post positions directly. The career center is a supplement to the exposition floor, not a replacement. Most serious recruiting conversations still happen at individual employer booths, at evening receptions, and in one-on-one meetings scheduled in advance. Recruiters who rely entirely on the career center without a booth or sponsorship tend to see lower returns than those who invest in a floor presence.

When should I book travel for AACN NTI 2026?

Immediately. NTI 2026 is in May. San Diego hotels near the convention center fill quickly for large nursing conferences. The AACN housing block typically offers the best combination of price and proximity, but blocks close several weeks before the event and premium properties go first. If you are planning to attend or exhibit, hotel availability at this point is limited, and flights into San Diego International tend to tighten as the conference nears. Book both flight and hotel at least six to eight weeks ahead to avoid paying a noticeable premium.

More questions about AACN NTI 2026

How does NTI compare to other nursing conferences for recruiters?

NTI is larger and more critical-care-specific than almost any other nursing conference. ANCC Magnet and Pathway to Excellence conferences reach hospital leadership and Magnet coordinators but are smaller and less heavy on bedside nurses. AONL attracts nurse executives and directors but is not a bedside-heavy audience. Specialty conferences like ENA for emergency nurses and AACN's own PCCN-focused events reach targeted sub-populations but at smaller scale. For recruiters focused on ICU, CVICU, NICU, PICU, progressive care, and emergency nursing, NTI offers the most efficient in-person reach of any conference on the calendar. The only close comparison for total nurse reach is NTI's own sister events, and even those are structured differently.

What should first-time NTI recruiters prioritize?

First-time recruiters at NTI should resist the temptation to treat the conference like a booth-only event. Plan for three distinct modes of engagement: booth conversations during exposition hours, targeted session attendance in rooms where your ideal candidates will be learning, and evening networking at receptions and dinners. Before the conference, scrub any existing candidate database for nurses who live in your target markets and are likely attending, and send pre-conference notes to set up coffee meetings. During the conference, carry both a booth staffer and a floater who can walk the floor and join conversations. After the conference, run a disciplined 48-hour follow-up window with personalized outreach to every contact. First-time recruiters consistently underestimate the third part and overestimate the booth.

How can a recruiter build presence at NTI without a booth?

A booth is not the only way to build presence. Recruiters without floor space can sponsor a single targeted piece of the program, such as a badge lanyard, a coffee break, or a session track, that puts the employer brand in front of everyone without requiring booth staffing. Hosting a small invite-only dinner adjacent to the conference is one of the highest-ROI plays for a first-year employer, especially if the dinner centers on a real clinical topic rather than a recruiting pitch. Speaker submissions through the AACN CFP process are the other path. A practitioner-led session with a nurse leader from your system on the program gives your employer brand credibility and airtime that no booth can match.

What evening and networking events happen around NTI?

Beyond the official AACN-hosted receptions, every night of NTI has a dense layer of vendor-hosted dinners, specialty-group gatherings, alumni meetups from major nursing schools, and informal reunions among nurses who have worked together at travel assignments. Experienced attendees often report getting more value from these invite-only gatherings than from the official program. For recruiters, the practical implication is that the real pipeline work happens between 6 pm and 11 pm, and planning the conference around booth time alone leaves significant opportunity on the table. Budget for at least one dinner and one after-hours event per night, and send invitations two to three weeks before the conference to secure attendance.

Is there a virtual or hybrid attendance option for AACN NTI 2026?

AACN has offered virtual access to select NTI content in past cycles, typically covering keynotes, select breakout sessions, and on-demand replays of recorded content after the conference. Whether a virtual or hybrid pass is available for 2026 and what it includes is published on AACN's registration page as the event nears. For nurses who cannot travel, a virtual pass can still cover CE credit and keynote access. For recruiters, there is no substitute for being on the floor. Virtual attendees are not in hallway conversations, do not walk the exposition, and are not available for hosted dinners.

How should employers measure ROI from NTI?

Leads collected at the booth is the wrong top-line metric for NTI. The more accurate measures are number of qualified conversations with target specialty and experience profiles, number of meetings booked on-site, number of first screens scheduled in the 30 days after the conference, number of offers extended in the following quarter, and hires attributed in the two quarters that follow. Employers who treat NTI as a pipeline influence event rather than a transactional lead event consistently see better returns. Attribution is easier when every conversation is followed up personally within 48 hours, which is where most employers lose the majority of the value they paid to be in San Diego.

What we do not yet know about AACN NTI 2026

Has the full agenda been published?

The complete session schedule and speaker lineup are typically released in stages in the months before the conference. Keynote speakers and headline tracks usually come out first, followed by the full breakout schedule, pre-conference workshops, and certification intensives. Expect the complete program to be live roughly six to eight weeks before the event. Check AACN's official site for the most current program updates, including pre-conference workshops, keynote speakers, breakout tracks, CE credit details, and any ticketed meal or networking events that sell separately.

Are exhibitor and sponsorship packages confirmed?

Exhibitor registration typically opens well in advance of the conference, often the fall before the event. High-visibility sponsorships with fixed inventory tend to move fastest. Keynote sponsorships, badge and lanyard sponsorships, registration bag sponsorships, and named evening receptions typically sell out before standard booths. Pricing, tiers, and current availability are in AACN's NTI exhibitor portal. First-time exhibitors are better off committing earlier rather than waiting to see the final agenda, since the remaining high-impact packages will already be claimed by then.