Nurses SHIFT Change – Grounded in Humanity. Guided by Ethics. Driven by Science. Committed to Social Justice.Report for Duty Rally, May 24, 2025 – Washington, DC and nationwide
The Report for Duty Rally is a national day of action led by the Nurses SHIFT Change, bringing together nurses, healthcare professionals, students, and community allies to advocate for a just, compassionate, and equitable healthcare system. On May 24, 2025, in Washington, D.C. and cities across the country, we will show up, speak out, and stand together for the future of healthcare, grounded in humanity, ethics, science, and social justice. Join us!
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.
Yes! The 2024 NBNA conference will be in San Francisco, July 23-28, 2024! The theme of this year’s conference is Advancing Health Care Across the Lifespan: Through Re-Imagining Nursing and Human Caring.
Dr. Sheldon Fields, current NBNA President, describes the notable significance of this event, and its location, in a recent message to NBNA members and conference attendees:
These are exciting times for the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) as we prepare for our 52nd Annual Institute and Conference. Please join us from Tuesday, July 23, 2024, to Sunday, July 28, 2024, at the Marriott Marquis hotel in picturesque, San Francisco, CA. As you know, earlier this year, after careful consideration, NBNA released a statement announcing its decision to move its 2024 conference out of Florida. Our primary reason for this move was our duty to ensure the safety and well-being of NBNA members, given the political and social climate in Florida and the recent racially motivated, hate-fueled murders of three innocent Black Americans in Jacksonville, FL.
Our conference committee and staff in the national office have been extremely busy planning a memorable conference where you can select educational offerings that meet your needs, engage in activities that promote career development, along with opportunities to network, fellowship, and celebrate with friends, and colleagues. Our corporate roundtable partners, sponsors, and other allies represent various industries and are guaranteed to bring innovative, real-time knowledge that you can utilize long after the conference has ended.
Our conference theme this year is Advancing Health Care Across the Lifespan: Through Re-Imagining Nursing and Human Caring. We invite you to come and share in the extraordinary reimagining of the NBNA. If you are not a member, this is a great time to join as we move onward and upward!
Sincerely,
Sheldon D. Fields, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, AACRN, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN 14th President – National Black Nurses Association, Inc
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 nowto 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.
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