International nursing symposium at OMU focuses on empowered nurses and future healthcare

The “9th National and 1st International Nursing Empowerment Symposium,” organized within the scope of 12–18 May Nursing Week in cooperation with the Department of Nursing of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU) and the Nursing Services Directorate of the Health Application and Research Center (SUVAM), was held at Atatürk Cultural Center.

The symposium, organized under the title “Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives,” the 2026 theme of the International Council of Nurses (ICN), was attended by administrators and academics of the OMU Faculty of Health Sciences, administrators and nurses of the OMU SUVAM Nursing Services Directorate, administrators and nurses of public and private hospitals in Samsun, and nursing students. The symposium, attended by approximately 400 participants, created an important academic and professional meeting environment.

It began with national and international messages

The program began with Nursing Week congratulatory messages sent by ICN President José Luis Cobos Serrano and ICN CEO Howard Catton. In addition, congratulatory messages from Turkish Nurses Association President Assoc. Prof. Dr. Azize Atlı Özbaş, Executive Nurses Association President Prof. Dr. Ülkü Baykal, Innovative Nursing Association President Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yeliz Doğan Merih, and Nursing Education Association President Assoc. Prof. Dr. Havva Arslan Yürümezoğlu were shared with the participants.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Esra Tural Büyük, Head of the Department of Nursing, delivered the opening speech and emphasized that empowered nurses will be trained through strong education, drawing attention to the importance of academic development and professional solidarity in the future of the nursing profession.

Presentations were delivered on strengthening nursing

Within the scope of the program, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hatice Uzşen delivered a presentation titled “Our Nurses, Our Future: Empowered Nurses Save Lives” in line with the ICN’s 2026 theme.

Then, Prof. Dr. Özen Kulakaç delivered a conference titled “The Invisible Legacy of Nursing Care: Emotional Trace.” Nurse Beyza Nur Erel, who works at the OMU SUVAM Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, shared the experiences of neonatal intensive care nurses with participants in her presentation titled “Tiny Bodies, Deep Traces.”

Within the scope of the symposium, a session titled “Career Development in Nursing: Good Practice Examples” was also held.

International speakers made scientific contributions

International speakers took part in the afternoon sessions. Prof. Dr. Lisbeth Fagerström, a faculty member at Åbo Academy University, delivered her conference titled “Inner Ethics in Nursing: Strengthening Moral Responsibility to Prevent Mistreatment in Vulnerable Groups.”

In the conference titled “Unmet Nursing Care and Its Impact on Nurses: Challenges and Implications for Practice,” delivered by Prof. Dr. Alvisa Palese and Dr. Stefania Chiappinotto from the University of Udine in Italy, nursing care processes and problems encountered in professional practices were addressed.

The future of nursing was addressed from multiple perspectives

At the symposium, which brought together national and international experts, the strengthening of the nursing profession, the improvement of care quality, and the role of nurses in the health systems of the future were evaluated comprehensively.

The program concluded after thanks and awards were presented to the organizing committee, while learning materials prepared by nursing students also attracted great interest from the participants.