Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing hosts virtual International Integrative Nursing Symposium

Inspiring a global community of integrative nurses and nurse leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic is a critical goal for the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing.

Building on the success of past International Integrative Nursing Symposia in Iceland (2015), Arizona (2017) and Ireland (2019), the center will be hosting an online Symposium April 27-29, 2022.

“While we had planned on holding an in-person Symposium in 2021, the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible,” says Professor Mary Jo Kreitzer, PhD, RN, FAAN, director of the center. “We will miss the intimacy of being together, but an online Symposium offers many exciting opportunities. Our goal has always been for the Symposium to be as accessible and inclusive as possible, and by offering this at a low cost in an online environment, we are confident that even more nurses will be able to gather, share and learn together.”

A new feature of the 2022 Symposium will be interactive poster sessions. Presenters who submit posters for the online Symposium will have the opportunity to not just share their work in a poster format, but record short videos and interact with participants from around the world.

To continue nurturing the community that past Symposia have built, the center began convening an Integrative Nursing Free Webinar Series in 2021.

“The Integrative Nursing Free Webinar Series has been a fantastic way to connect with and expand our Integrative Nursing community,” says Sue Nankivell, director of business development and community relations at the Bakken Center. “Series content has been very well-received, providing valuable learning opportunities. It’s also been a great way to build community and excitement leading up to the 2022 Symposium.”

To date, more than 500 attendees have participated in these webinars, two of which have been led by nursing alumni Stephanie Hope and Clinical Assistant Professor Erika Timko Olson.

“By sharing different ideas and views on integrative nursing, this is a big step towards learning and also improving quality of care,” said a past webinar participant.

Megan Voss, DNP, RN, who is clinical associate professor in the School of Nursing and director of education/graduate studies and associate professor at the Bakken Center, is enthusiastic about learning how the pandemic is shaping integrative nursing practice. “The Integrative Nursing Symposium offers a way to connect with likeminded nurses across the globe,” she says. “I am always so inspired by the people I meet and the connections I make. After two challenging years in health care, I am excited to see what innovations have emerged from the brilliant integrative nurses who will be sharing their work at the virtual Symposium in 2022.”

Abstract submissions are being accepted for the 2022 Virtual Symposium at integrativenursingsymposium.com.