Members of the NurseManifest team have issued a call for nurses to join together in signing a 2025 Nurses Declaration of Solidarity and Resistance, indicating our commitment to stand together, act to resist that which harms health and well-being, protect those who are harmed, and build coalitions that move toward the ideals we seek.  Nurses stand on a long and strong legacy of political activism that arises from our moral imperative to actively promote public policy that assures social/health equity. Nursing’s extensive theoretical foundation, and our knowledge derived from ethical, aesthetic, personal and emancipatory knowing leads us to take action, and provides the substance that constitutes our purpose in taking action. Nurses worldwide are invited to join with other nurses to engage in determined action to protect health and justice for all, regardless of age, social/economic circumstance, ability, religion, skin color, race, country of origin, sexual orientation or gender identity. To join this movement, add your signature to the 2025 Declaration of Solidarity and Resistance! For inspiration about actions to take, see our “Resources for Action,”

The 2025 Declaration builds on the 2017 Declaration, issued during the early days of the first Trump administration. Within a few weeks, 2,215 nurses had signed on to the 2017 Declaration. Now it is 2025, and we have new avenues and resources for dealing with health crises, some of which emerged during the 2020-22 COVID-19 pandemic. Having lived through the first Trump term, and the pandemic, nurses are prepared for almost anything that comes along. And now, many nurses are even more deeply concerned, even horrified, that not only are we re-experiencing the health-damaging traumas of 2017, we are witnessing even more dreadful and devastating effects of government action. But as Sally Thorne explains in her March 2025 Nursing Inquiry editorial, “We were made for these times.”

We will not be mandated to engage in hateful acts, acts of division and furthering disadvantage, policies that expand the privilege of the few and cause pain and distress in the many. As we showed so clearly during the COVID-19 pandemic, we will not be cowed by fear or self-interest, rather we will continue to do what nurses have always strived to do in optimizing health and health equity in the fullest sense of those terms for all. We are a force for good in this world, and we have always understood that as our mission and our privilege. (Thorne, 2025)

Take a few moments today to read more about the 2025 Declaration, and join the many nurses who share a passion to take action, and join with others in a strong coalition to resist the harms, protect others at risk, and create a foundation for a future in which this sort of erosion of human health and well-being can never happen again.

For all nurse activists, this virtual gathering is an opportunity to re-affirm the values and ideals of our rich tradition that is expressed on this site in the Nursing Manifesto: A Call to Conscience and Action! The theme of the conference is “Nursology Theory Think Tanks for the Future” building from the tradition started in the 1980’s by Margaret Newman.

This year’s conference is all set to be among the best ever! The program features three plenary panels on Thursday, Saturday and Monday. The 30-minute “knowledge sessions” each day feature speakers from over the world who submitted abstracts focusing on the development of nursing knowledge. Here is just a sample from the 35 knowledge session titles:

• “A ch’ixi Nursing is possible. Towards situated epistemologies”
• “Your Truth Meter: A Paradigm Shift in Nurse Self-Care”
• “Application of the Middle-Range Theory of Nurses’ Psychological Trauma to Nurse Practitioners”
• “Understanding Gun Violence via Theory of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior”
• “The Theory of Impeded Academic Perseverance: An Emerging Theory in Nursing Education”
• “Whiteness in Nursing Theorizing”
• “A Theory-Informed Conceptual Model of Nurse Powerlessness”
• “How scientific is nursing? Answers from a new characterization of science” 

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 now to have access to all conference events and access to the digital conference “Guidebook.” The registration fee is a flat $180 USD. Scholarships are available – or you can donate a scholarship to help make this conference accessible to everone. 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. 

Register here!

We are delighted to announce that Nanette D. Massey is joining us again to lead a workshop and discussion over three Saturdays in January – the 13th, 20th and 27th from 2 to 4 pm Eastern! And she has two important guests who will each join the discussion on one of the Saturdays – Dr. Robin DiAngelo, author of the book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism, and Dr. Willie Underwood, Chairman of the AMA.  Registrations are open until the start of the second session on Saturday the 20th. After that, registration will be closed. Participants are encouraged to commit to all three sessions. See details below.

Here is the schedule:

• Saturday January 13 –
  • 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Nanette D. Massey
  • 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM – Dr. Robin DiAngelo
• Saturday January 20 –
  • 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Nanette D. Massey
  • 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM – Dr. Willie Underwood, AMA Chairman
• Saturday January 27 –
  • 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Nanette D. Massey
  • 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM – Q&A

Nanette’s Description of the Workshop

The American Medical Association has declared racism “a public health threat.”

“But I’m not racist,” you say as a white nurse. Still, you work in an industry where appallingly unequal outcomes for white people and others are happening–and normalized. WHO ARE YOU BEING beyond “it didn’t happen on my floor/shift/watch so my hands are clean”? Further, who could you be to make a difference in the dire statistics of our unequal outcomes? To make a difference in the experience of your non-white colleagues?

This seminar takes place in two hour sessions over three Saturdays; January 13, 20, and 27. Registration will be cut off at the start of the second session, January 20th.

• Dr. Robin DiAngelo, whose book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism spent over three years on the New York Times Bestseller list, will join us on Saturday 1/13 and will be taking your questions.

• Dr. Willie Underwood, Chairman of the AMA, will be our guest speaker Saturday 1/20 and taking your questions.

The book “White Fragility” has become a cultural touchstone for our time. Most U.S. white people, though, report having no regular contact with non-white people and can only discuss race in an “echo chamber” of other white frames of reference.

With black workshop facilitator Nanette D. Massey of Buffalo, N.Y., this is your chance to contextualize race from an unfiltered, real world experience rather than theory. With Nanette’s hallmark frankness and practicality, you’ll be left with self-clarity and the ability to act on racism within your own personal spheres of influence with genuine confidence, humor, and humility.

Registration

Register for the series on Eventbrite! The fee for all three sessions is $100.

We’re taking registrations until the start of the second session on Saturday the 20th. After that, registration will be closed. Participants are encouraged to commit to all three sessions. The material is progressive.

Participants are also urged to read Robin DiAngelo’s book “White Fragility” before joining the seminar. Audience familiarity with its ideas and terms is crucial to the pace of the discussion.

There are two things “happening” in October  … 

• Our traditional “Overdue” zoom gathering is happening on Thursday, October 12th, 7-8:30 pm Eastern!  We will be focusing on the voices of students – so encourage any and all students and recent graduates you know to join us!
• The 4-week Saturday series focusing on action for white nurses is happening on October 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th, from 3 to 4:30 pm Eastern.  These discussions will be informed by two books (not required reading but highly recommended now or later!) 
  • White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao
  • The Good Ally by Nova Reid

To register for these events, and for the latest information, and details, go to our “Overdue” page here!

Are you a white nurse who is concerned about the reality of racism in nursing? Are you a white nurse who believes that racism exists in patient care – but that nurses are not racist? Are you a white nurse who is confident that you yourself are not racist? Whatever your attitudes and beliefs are about racism in nursing, our “Overdue Reckoning on Racism in Nursing” is committed to addressing any and all of these issues. We know that this is a journey, and that each nurse is on a particular part of their own journey. Racism effects all of us, and we all play a part in the dynamics that range from the personal, to the institutional, to the structural. We cannot escape the fact that there is a problem – now we are calling for all of us – including white nurses – to be part of the solution.

We have set aside four Saturdays in October to focus specifically on what white nurses can do – what we must do – to move closer to solutions, to take action. Join us! The topics planned for each session are as follows (open to change by participants as we go!)

Oct. 6 – Developing our awareness of Whiteness.” Discussion Prompt: “When did you first become aware of your privilege as a white person?

Oct. 14 – Dismantling white privilege – “What is your experience of remaining silent while people of color speak?”

Oct. 21 – DEI is not enough — “What happens when you attend the dance, but are not asked to dance?”

Oct 28 – Blueprints for action – “What antiracism actions are we committed to take on an individual, group, and structural level?”

Register now! One registration for all 4 sessions! When you register, you will receive the link to join the sessions. If you lose the link, register again. See our webpage for details and updates!

All are welcome to also participate in our monthly Thursday, 7-8:30 Eastern, “Overdue Reckoning on Racism in Nursing” zoom gatherings! We will be featuring actions that nurses are taking to address racism – our September gathering featured the new book by Tina Loarte-Rodrigues titled “Latinas in Nursing: Stories of determination, inspiration and trust“. Here are the dates for the sessions coming up:

• October 12
• November 9
• December 14
• January – winter break
• February 8
• March 7
• April 4

There is one registration for all sessions – When you register, you will receive the link to join the sessions. If you lose the link, register again. See our webpage for details and updates!

Register now! One registration for all sessions!

https://umass-amherst.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMudeyhrzsqG9y9gho-ewR85Wbgq-etvFXk