August 27th & 28th, 2026: Co-Sponsored by the University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada and the Journal of Nursing Ethics.
We are reporting on this truly international nursing ethics conference. The amazing work being carried out in disparate countries and in advancing nursing ethics is encouraging. Participants were from Brazil, British Isles. Canada, China, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Japan, Nepal, Philippines, and Uganda. Several members of SONEI were in attendance and presented.
Although the theme of the conference was Pandemic and Disaster Preparedness and Response: Ethical and Cultural Perspectives, presentations covered broad aspects of nursing preparedness to influence change within their particular cultural perspectives and beyond. Important discernable threads included: the power of nursing ethics scholarship; developing and enacting nursing ethics leadership that facilitates good care despite of, and to overcome, obstacles; nursing ethics as its own entity; and the role of nurse leaders and educators in developing the ethical confidence of point-of-care nurses. Additionally, presentations covered the need for ethical perspectives and knowledge development across the human lifespan and ranged from ethical issues associated with caring for children to ethical problem related to aging.
Keynote and Plenary Addresses
Plenary addresses by Georgina Morley from the Cleveland Clinic and Carla Ventura from the University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto underscored the importance of ethics education. Georgina Morley highlighted how limited ethics education leaves many nurses feeling unprepared to navigate complex ethical challenges. Through the Nursing Ethics Program at the Cleveland Clinic nurses are provided with ethics education, mentorship, moral distress support, and opportunities for professional development. The program has increased engagement in ethics consultations and has created a growing network of ethics-focused nursing leaders. Morley’s work demonstrates that supporting nurses’ ethical competence is essential not only for patient care but also for reducing burnout and helping nurses thrive professionally. Attention then turned to Dr. Ventura’s qualitative evaluation of the WHO Quality Rights Training for Brazilian Primary Health Care Professionals. The initiative was evaluated for its impact on primary health care professionals’ attitudes and practices regarding the rights of people with mental health conditions. Post-training responses revealed increased empathy and person-centered care, stronger application of human rights and ethical principles in daily practice, and reduced stigma through collaborative learning. Findings suggest that Quality Rights training promotes ethical transformation, humanized care, and culturally safe services, supporting more responsive and sustainable health systems, particularly during and after public health crises.
Ethics, Pandemic & Disaster Preparedness
The remaining keynote and plenary speakers, who focused on pandemic and disaster preparedness, challenged participants to think through an ethical lens. Collectively, their presentations emphasized that effective responses to future crises depend on equity, compassion, leadership, and trust as much as on technical expertise. Opening keynote speaker Ross Upshur of the University of Toronto argued that pandemics are fundamentally ethical events. Behind every decision lies a series of ethical questions: Who receives scarce resources? How are risks distributed? What obligations do individuals have to one another? Drawing on over 25 years of experience in pandemic ethics and leadership with organizations such as the WHO, Upshur argued that society continues to overlook these deeper ethical dimensions, limiting our ability to learn from past crises and improve future responses. Building on this perspective, Ann Gallagher of Brunel University of London explored how nursing ethics can guide disaster preparedness. Looking at disasters both past and future, she encouraged conference participants to move beyond viewing catastrophes as a matter of fate or circumstance. Instead, she argued that preparedness requires ethical commitment and action that is not simply about mitigating risk but about actively shaping a more humane and resilient future.
Ethics, Inequities, and Vulnerable Populations
The discussion widened further through the plenary presentations of Cheryl Pollard from the University of Regina and Pamela Grace from Boston College. Dr. Pollard challenged conventional understandings of preparedness that focus primarily on infrastructure and logistics. While those elements are important, she demonstrated that emergencies often expose and intensify existing inequities, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations. Pollard emphasized the importance of Indigenous perspectives that center reciprocity, collective care, and adaptation. Her presentation called for a broader vision of preparedness that strengthens not only emergency systems but also the social and moral fabric of communities. Dr. Grace argued that nursing ethics is more than a specialty within healthcare ethics because it defines the profession’s responsibilities to individuals and society, providing the ethical foundation for nursing practice, education, research, and policy. She discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic exposed widespread gaps in preparedness highlighting the need for nurses to engage confidently in ethical decision-making during crises. She distinguished nursing ethics from bioethics while recognizing their overlap and emphasized the importance of professional codes of ethics (e.g ICN, 2021; ANA, 2025) as essential guides for ethical practice and global nursing solidarity.
Final Keynote Presentations: Lessons Learned
Two final keynote presentations brought important perspectives from vaccine development and pandemic experience. Trina Racina of the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) examined the ethical complexities involved in vaccine development, including participant protection, equitable access, informed consent, and public trust. Lastly, Elizabeth Peter from the University of Toronto reflected on six lessons learned from COVID-19, emphasizing the ethical consequences of staffing shortages, misinformation, care rationing, and social inequities. She highlighted the importance of self-compassion, cultural humility, organizational support, and community engagement in strengthening future responses. Together, these presentations delivered a clear and timely message: preparedness is fundamentally an ethical endeavor. It is as much an issue of anticipation as it is of reaction. Whether addressing public health policy, vaccine innovation, nursing leadership, or frontline care, the speakers demonstrated that future pandemic and disaster responses must be ethically informed. Throughout the conference, side discussions were evident during breaks. The conference was remarkable for its sense of solidarity with, and support for, colleagues despite the varied backgrounds, cultures and specific interest areas the role of nurses and the profession remained central.