Memphis, Tennessee is the local site for the Virtual Nursing Theory Week 2022 conference. Memphis was the home of Dr. Margaret Newman–she was born there, graduated from high school, and received her baccalaureate nursing degree (1962) from UT College of Nursing. She also studied in California (MS, UCSF, 1964) and New York (PhD, NYU, 1971) and worked at NYU, Penn State, and the University of Minnesota. Shortly after her retirement in 1999, in 2004 she returned to Memphis and lived there until her death in 2018. Even though she was retired, during this time she was active in advancing nursing theory, education, theory, research, and practice through her presentations and publications. She made deep connections to the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Nursing, which has established the Margaret Newman Center and an endowed chair in her name.
Recognizing Newman’s significant contributions to nursing theory, research, and scholarship over the course of her life and career, the VNTW 2022 will be using her article, “A World of No Boundaries” as the overarching theme for the conference. This article was published in Advances in Nursing Science in 2003 (vol. 26, pp. 240-245) and while it will be almost 20 years old at the time of the VNTW 2022, its message is timeless. Wolters-Kluwer and Mercedes Simoncelli, publisher of ANS have made the article available for free from now until the end of March, 2022. We are grateful for their support.
If you are planning to participate in the VNTW 2022, either as a presenter or attendee, we encourage you to take some time to read “A World of No Boundaries.” We believe this will help orient you to the conceptual thinking of the conference, as well as provide a nice introduction to Newman’s work. You can learn more about her theory, Health as Expanding Consciousness at nursology.net, which might also be useful to you in preparing for the VNTW 2022.
Note that the VNTW 2022 is not about Margaret Newman exclusively, nor is it a Margaret Newman conference. We are just recognizing her roots and lifelong connections to Memphis, which is the local site for this local/virtual event. We did something similar last year, remembering Rosemary Ellis and her connections to FPB at Case Western Reserve University. We just ask that people be mindful of Margaret Newman and her work as they prepare to attend the VNTW 2022, either as a presenter or attendee.
Nursology Theory Annual Conference 