XIX National Conference of Nursing Science in summery Turku
The University Hill of Turku was filled by researchers and friends of nursing science from all corners of Finland in June 9-10. The organizing committee revealed that they had aimed at 200 participants, but amazingly there were 400 of us in total! The double-sized crowd necessarily meant a bit more queueing and noise than planned, but luckily it also facilitated conversation and building new networks. Jenny represented the Borderlines of Self project.
On the first day, the keynote was presented by professor Olga Yakusheva (Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, USA) with the title A human capital approach to nursing value. Yakusheva’s background is in mathematics and economics. In her lecture, she shared that her personal experience as a family member of a cancer patient had originally led her to think about the value of nurses and nursing. Eventually, defining this value in numbers became central for Yakusheva’s research career. In her lecture, Yakusheva first debunked the belief that a nurse is a nurse; the value of nurses is individual and complex. Secondly, Yakusheva criticized the way that nurses are seen as an expense that can be cut in order to save, although they should be seen as human capital worth investing to. After all, the quality of care reflects on basically everything that the health care as a system aims for.
There were seven parallel sessions of presentations each day, so there were plenty to choose from. In addition, there was also a panel discussion on citizen participation led by associate professor Tella Lantta, in which the panelists discussed points, methods, and benefits of co-participation in health research as well as ideas on how to increase citizen engagement.
The award for the Promoter of Nursing Science 2026 was granted to Malin Andtfolk (Åbo Akademi). Andtfolk has examined the possibilities and threats of AI in care laudably. In her speech, she highlighted the viewpoint of caring science, in which technological development is not based on what can be automated, predicted, and optimized, but instead on what matters to human beings, what promotes health and dignity, and what alleviates suffering. Andtfolk’s message seemed to resonate seamlessly with Yakusheva’s keynote.
The first day ended in the main building of the University of Turku, where we raised a toast for nursing science and enjoyed music and mingling.
The second day was just as busy as the first. The keynote of the day was delivered by professor Riitta Suhonen (University of Turku). Suhonen talked about the future directions of care and services for older individuals. I held an e-poster presentation on Borderlines of Self, which meant having only three minutes to present! Brutal! Luckily, however, I had had the time to rehearse and managed to keep on time. The speed presentations worked surprisingly well, but after listening to about 30 of them my brain felt quite foggy.
There were also printed posters, out of which I recall Päivi Usvametsä’s (Tampere university of applied sciences) the best. The poster was about experiences of participating in a psychoeducation group for adults with ADHD. Many of the finding were similar with our group therapy for young adults with borderline personality: participating in the group had offered peer support, increased understanding of one’s own symptoms, and decreased self-criticism and stigma. I also discussed the common and differing features of ADHD and borderline personality disorder, as well as their co-occurence with Usvametsä.
The next national conference of nursing science will be arranged by Åbo Akademi in Vaasa in 2028.
Author: Jenny Paananen