Program for 2025 Virtual Nursology Theory Week (VNTW)!

There are three plenary sessions for the annual Virtual Nursology Theory Week (VNTW), which this year will be held on March 20-24. This year’s conference 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 (free to download through Feburary-March 2025) –

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 (free to download Feb-Mar 2025)

The conference will open on March 20th with Dr. Lucinda Canty discussing the implications of the conference theme with the featured article authors, Dr. Iheduru-Anderson and Dr. Waite. They will highlight strategies for dismantling colonial legacies in nursing knowledge, empowering diverse voices, and cultivating critical consciousness among educators and students. By reimagining nursing education through Freire’s lens, we aim to inspire a more equitable, culturally responsive, and socially just approach to nursing theory and practice.

On Saturday, a panel of faculty and doctoral students from West Virginia University will discuss their current scholarly projects that are focused on the needs of populations that are neglected and underrepresented.- perspectives that are essential for the future development of nursing knowledge. The discussion will be facilitated by Dr. Heather Carter-Templeton and Dr. Suzy Walter, with panelists Emelia Botchway, Emmerita Morris, and Robin Elkins.

The closing panel will feature early-career scholars whose work is grounded in cultural traditions beyond those derived from Eurocentric perspectives. The discussion will be facilitated by Christina Nurati, with panelists Daniel Suárez-Bequero and Jitana Benton-Lee, who will focus on new directions for the development of nursing knowledge and their visions for changes that are required to engage their unique visions for shaping the path forward.

Throughout the five days of the conference, there will be 30-minute Knowledge Sessions presented by nursologists whose abstracts were accepted for the conference! Check out the program here and plan to participate as much as you possibly can!

Registration is open now!