The annual Virtual Nursology Theory Week (VNTW) conference will be March 20-24, 2025, and the call for abstracts is now open! The theme, Honoring Our Past and Moving Forward: Decolonizing Nursing Knowledge, reflects our commitment to embracing our history while forging a path toward a progressive and inclusive future in nursing. The inspiration of the conference theme is based on Iheduru-Anderson and Waite’s paper published in 2024 –
Iheduru-Anderson, Kechi, & Waite, Roberta. (2024). Decolonizing nursing education: Reflecting on Paulo Freire’s pedagogy of the oppressed. Nursing Outlook, 72(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2024.102183
Please use this form to submit an abstract for the Virtual Nursing Theory Week to be held from March 20-24, 2025. Deadline for submission: December 1, 2024. Notification of status: December 31, 2024. Plan to include in your abstract a brief description of how your planned presentation aligns with the conference theme.
There will be two types of presentations during the conference; you can select your preference on the submission form, or leave the type open depending on the needs of the conference. Each Knowledge Session podium presentation will be 30 minutes long; we recommend 20 minutes to present plus 10 minutes for questions and discussion. Knowledge Session Poster presentations will be 5 minutes long during which time the presenter will provide an overview of their topic. After the poster overviews are completed, presenters will be moved to different Zoom Breakout Rooms to meet with attendees for questions and discussion for an extended period of time. Attendees will be able to move around to visit whatever posters they wish to discuss!
So sharpen your pencils (metaphorically of course!) and submit your abstract soon!
The planning group for 2025 met today and is moving along to assure a dynamic and inspiring conference! The dates of the conference are March 20 – 24,2025. The program plan will be similar to our past virtual conferences, with 3 feature “plenary” sessions on Thursday, Saturday and Monday, and a great line-up of “knowledge sessions” that emerge from the abstracts. Each day of the program will begin at 10 a.m Eastern.
The theme for 2025 is Honoring our Past and Moving Forward – Decolonizing Nursing Knowledge.
The call for abstracts will be posted early in September, with a due date of December 1, 2024. Abstract decisions will be posted early in January, 2025, with the planning for the program details to follow early in February 2025.
The focus article for the conference will be:
Iheduru-Anderson, Kechi, & Waite, Roberta. (2024). Decolonizing nursing education: Reflecting on Paulo Freire’s pedagogy of the oppressed. Nursing Outlook, 72(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2024.102183
Now is the time to plan!
Mark the dates of March 20-24, 2025 on your calendar!
Download and read the focus article!
If you are interested in participating as a presenter, plan to submit an abstract!
Here are two “cards” that you can use to post information about the week – contributed by Virginia Souza!
The 2024 Virtual Nursology Theory Week is now history, so it is now time to make sure you save the date for 2025! March 20-24, 2025
Our 2024 week was a major success – now a landmark event with 34 knowledge sessions, 3 plenary featured panels, and 4 posters, featuring the theme of Nursology theory think tanks! Big appreciations to all who made this possible — the 70 presenters, our fabulous zoom support crew, the session Ambassadors who kept us on track and stepped up to help with any and all details! We will be posting follow-up information and reflections over the coming weeks.
For everyone who participated, if you are planning think tanks or other activities inspired by our time together throughout the 2024 week, let us know! We will post what you are doing over the coming months! This “conference” is not simply an “event” – it is an experience that spills out in many different directions! And please complete the Evaluation form (see the link in Guidebook). Your feedback will be invaluable as we plan the event for 2025!
Tomorrow is the big day for the opening of the Virtual Nursology Theory Week! Zoom will be open at 9:30 am Eastern, and the opening plenary session begins at 10 am with a presentation led by Marie Gill, Director of the Dr. Margaret A. Newman Center for Nursing Theory.
The day will continue with 30-minute Knowledge Sessions (with personal breaks of course), which will continue throughout the week for a total of 34 knowledge sessions over the coming days. The Saturday plenary session, moderated by Jacqueline Fawcett, will feature students and early career scholars from UMass Boston, whose work focuses on the implications of nursing perspectives in the development of health-related policy. The closing plenary session will be led by Michelle Williams of Stanford Health, delving into the concept of Weathering-To-Joy among nursing and healthcare professionals from diverse communities.
If you have already registered, you should have received information to download the Conference Guidebook – which contains information about how to join the conference on Zoom, and a complete guide to all of the events for the next 5 days! If you have not yet registered, do so now and you will receive what you need!
We have many nurse scholars from countries and cultures that speak languages other than English who are planning to attend the Virtual Nursology Theory Week! The conference will be presented in English, but Zoom now has a “translation” feature that everyone will be able to use during the conference, as needed! We know that the translations are likely to have a few glitches, particularly given the technical language that will be part of the conference. But it is wonderful to have this capability now being developed! Let’s try it and evaluate how well it serves our needs! This short video is provided by Ray Harwood, whose team will be managing our zoom platform for the conference!
The conference program promises to be the best yet! The program features three plenary panels on Thursday, Saturday and Monday! The “knowledge sessions” each day feature speakers from over the world who submitted abstracts focusing on the development of nursing knowledge! Each day concludes with an hour-long “Daily Discussion” during which presenters and attendees can interact informally to discuss topics and issues that were presented during the day!
Register nowto have access to all conference events and access to the digital conference “Guidebook.” The Guidebook will be available about a week before the conference begins, and will contain all presenter bios (with photo) and the slides to be used during their presentation.
We have a wonderful collection of abstracts, and the review team will be sending feedback to everyone by the end of this month! Then everyone can select your presentation time, and we will publish the program early in January!
Registration will also be open the first week in January! We will post the information widely – through Nursology.net and everywhere we can!
Here is the program outline – save the dates and plan to attend!
The theme for the 2024 conference will be “Nursology Theory Think Tanks for the Future.” We welcome abstracts at any time before the due date of December 1, 2023 at midnight Eastern. See the details on the “2024 Call for Abstracts” page, which you can also access from the main menu above. The abstracts will be reviewed and selected for the “Knowledge Sessions” that are outlined on the tentative program shown below.
The 2024 Virtual Nursology Theory Week will happen March 21-25, 2024! The overall theme will be “Nursology Theory Think Tanks for the Future.” The conference will open on Thursday, March 21st at 10 am Eastern, featuring a presentation and discussion of the tradition of theory think tanks that was established by theorist Margaret Newman in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s, led by the Director of the Margaret Newman Center for Nursing Theory Dr. Marie Gill. There will be a mid-conference plenary featuring a student and early scholars panel, and a closing presentation featuring the application of Nursing Patterns of Knowing to guide teaching and learning. The call for abstracts will be open from October 1st through December 1st, 2023. The selected abstracts will form the 30-minute “knowledge sessions” and the posters that will be featured each day of the conference. There will be one low, affordable conference registration fee, which will provide access to all conference events and access to the digital conference “Guidebook.” Registration for the conference will open in mid-January.
The Virtual Nursology Theory Week was once again – a resounding success! As the detailed comments below demonstrate, the conference offered a new kind of experience that was enlightening and inspiring! Attendees ranged from scholars embarking on new careers in their PhD programs, to nurse scholars with many decades of experience of teaching, research, and theory development.
From PhD student, Kemmarie Beal:
VNTW was a fantastic experience both as a first-time attendee and presenter. I have attended many conferences throughout my years of professional practice. Yet, I never saw myself as a presenter on any of these platforms–VNTW has changed that! I am grateful I was in the midst of scholarly exchanges, learning from scholars in development, long recognized scholars and newly recognized scholars whom have been long-time governors of knowledge development and dissemination. Presentations were memorable! The genuine exchanges in the closing panel discussion were rich in content, the authenticity palpable!
From nurse ethicist and thought leader, Marsha Fowler:
What I liked, no loved, about this gathering was the diversity of voices, the authenticity of the conversation, but more than that—there was a meaningfulness and consequentialness to the research, the interchange, the discussions. So often conferences promote trivial and banal research and are a vehicle for notches on a CV. This wasn’t that. It seemed to me to be real engagement without artifice, without the usual white posturing and pretense, without the pall of competition and academic reward agendas.
The five day conference was truly an enriching experience with a diverse array of presentations. Research presentations using various methodologies as well as theoretical and philosophical discussions were presented on each day of the conference. I was especially pleased that the scholarship of nurses of color was prominent throughout the conference. The closing panel on the future of nursing theory was especially thought provoking and exciting as we move forward in advancing our discipline through new theoretical development. The virtual format made it easy to attend the presentations in which I was most interested. I look forward to attending the conference again in 2024.
Many more attendees shared comments on the program evaluation form. Here is a list of “favorite things” about this conference:
Hearing Marlaine Smith talk about her theory, and also the initial “Scholars of Color” panel
Learning about theory development using a variety of nursing theories.
The opportunities to interact with others who attended the conference, including two follow ups for future collaborations
Connecting to amazing scholars who are incredibly insightful. I thought it was all done really well. While technology has its shortcomings, I loved being able to attend virtually as I would not have been able to attend if the conference required much travel for an in-person meeting. So I really appreciated the accessibility of the online format.
I thoroughly enjoyed the diverse perspectives and dialogue.. The technical assistance person was exceptionally patient and helpful.
Learning and seeing how nursing theory is being utilized across nursing through practice and research.
Hearing new younger evolving nurse theorists,researchers, clinicians and scientists.
You make us all feel worthy of scholarly attention and regard. I simply wish I had more time to devote to it.
Perspectives from People of Color was informative and important.
Closing panel (clockwise top left: Peggy Chinn, Sally Thorne, Ismália De Souza, Lucinda Canty: “Looking Back to Look Forward”
There were a few comments related to the Digital program guide we use – Guidebook! Guidebook is a rich resource that contains the names, brief bios, and slides for all of the presenters. Guidebook also includes the names of all attendees with links to connect with others who are attending! Best of all, if you register in advance, you receive access to Guidebook a couple of weeks in advance of the conference, with access to all of the information available so you can make plans to attend sessions that particularly interest you. Plus you retain Guidebook on your mobile device for many months after the conference! So for future conferences, watch for early access to Guidebook and plan to make use of it to develop and expand your network related to your own scholarly interests!
Yes! There will be future conferences! We will announce all details here on Nursology and on the Nursology Theory website. Follow this blog to get the information as it emerges! The 2024 dates are set – March 21-25, 2024. Mark your calendar and plan to tune in!
Everyone who participated in the 2023 Virtual Nursology Theory Week had amazing exposure to the kind of discourse that nurtures and advances theoretical and conceptual thought in the discipline! We will be posting reflections and resources over the coming few weeks here and on Nursology.net.
Our 2024 conference will again be virtual, across the dates of March 21-25, with a roughly similar program pattern:
VNTW: Annual Nursing Theory Conference 