Next Bold Chapter to Honor and Replace the Virtual Nursing Theory Week

From Marie Gill,
Director of the Dr. Margaret A. Newman
Center for Nursing Theory.

After years of inspiring connection, learning, and innovation through Virtual Nursing Theory Week (VNTW) founded by nursing theory visionaries Drs. Jacqueline Fawcett, Peggy Chinn, and Leslie Nicoll, we’re thrilled to introduce a fresh, flexible, and highly interactive series designed for today’s nurses and today’s challenges.

First, our gratitude to VNTW brought together thousands of nurse theorists, clinicians, educators, scientists, and students worldwide. Thank you to every presenter, participant, organizer, and behind-the-scenes supporter who made VNTW such a lasting success.

All VNTW conference materials will be preserved at https://nursingtheoryconference.com/ in the Past Conferences section. That site will now serve as the home for Nursology Forums, including each Forum’s abstract, date/time, and learning materials. The Forums will also inherit the beloved conference logo created by nurse artist Christian Tedjasukmana. The Forums will begin early in 2027. Announcements and details will be posted on Nursology.net, and on the Nursing Forums website

What are Nursology Forums?

Nursology Forums are live, discussion-driven incubators, a place to move nursing theory off a dusty, one-dimensional page and into the real, complex, multi-dimensional reality of nursing. This is for anyone interested in nursing theory—or, as Dr. Fawcett would say, for all “Nursologists.”

All Nursology Forum participants should bring their:

• theory-inspired work or works-in-progress
• theory-related questions
• practice situations that need unpacking
• DNP projects, PhD conceptual and research ideas, and dissertation proposals
• leadership challenges, equity issues, and population health concerns

Then join an open dialogue with colleagues and mentors to strip away jargon, sharpen concepts, and apply nursing theories and frameworks to real-world problem-solving.

What to expect

• Free to attend
• 9-12 sessions per year
• 60–120 minutes 
• Virtual (Zoom) and/or in-person options (set by Forum leader)
• Theorist-moderated conversations led by published nurse theorists
• Issue-based topics focused on high-stakes challenges in education, practice, research, leadership, entrepreneurship, and policy
• A proposal review process to keep Forums timely, relevant, and engaging
• More frequent opportunities for mentorship, networking, and collaboration

A forum for everyone in the Nursology Network and Beyond

This is a rare, equal-playing-field space for students, faculty, nurse leaders, clinicians, and nurse entrepreneurs, all working together to strengthen nursing’s disciplinary identity and impact. Here are a few reasons why you need to participate in Nursology Forums:

• Students discover how theory builds clinical judgement and a professional identity that commands respect and takes your undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral initiatives to the next level of social impact.
• Faculty critically examine how curriculum reflects, challenges, and impacts nursing practice in modern health care delivery systems and social policy.
• Leaders: confidently shift from corporate/business change models to contextually specific nursing frameworks better suited to challenge bad business in health care and support efforts to reduce turnover and protect and strengthen your staff and patients.
• Entrepreneurs: claim the discipline-specific theoretical basis that justifies the importance of risk taking as a nurse entrepreneur, and enhances the marketability and credibility of your endeavors.

Nursing theory isn’t superfluous to who we are and what we do as nurses. It’s the lifeline for resisting burnout and incivility, redesigning broken systems, and leading human-centered change that improves health and wellbeing for all.

Honoring our VNTW roots

To celebrate where we began, a special Nursology Forum will take place every March during what was formerly “Theory Week,” now reimagined for an evolving field.

Visit Nursology.net for upcoming topics, dates, and how to participate as a presenter or attendee. Bring your real-world problems, your insights, and your curiosity.

The future of nursing theory starts here—let’s shape it together!