Member Login
Search

President's Message February 2025

It may still be the dead of winter (though the days are getting longer!), but several new exciting things are happening at the American Association for the History of Nursing.

Virtual Networking Events

In an effort to help us keep the connections that we forge each year at our in-person annual conference and provide a mentoring opportunity for all our members, we are starting free, monthly virtual networking events via Zoom.  We currently have four networking events scheduled for those in our organization with diverse interests (DNPs, early career folks and newish instructors, and retired folks), as well as a once-monthly all-members event. These sessions will run from 2-3 pm Eastern time. Register by clicking on the event via the AAHN Calendar to sign up or by clicking the links below. 

The first networking events are scheduled to start this week!

Additionally, we are actively seeking moderators for these virtual networking events. If you are interested in volunteering, please email us at [email protected]. Also, please let us know if you want to add another virtual meet-up subgroup to the schedule!

AAHN Virtual Speaker’s Series

We are also launching a virtual speaker series with a virtual nursing history research talk a month from January to June and September to December. I will be kicking off the series with a talk on March 7th entitled “Punishment, Forgiveness, Drunkenness, and Praise: Nurses in Council Minutes of Halsar Naval Hospital in the 1755-1775.” More information about the virtual speaker series, including abstracts and future talk titles, can be found here.  As with the virtual networking events, you can register for the talks by clicking on the talk on the AAHN Virtual Speaker Series Page.

42nd Annual Nursing and Healthcare History Conference Abstracts Due February 28th

Make sure to submit your abstract for our 42nd Annual Nursing and Healthcare History Conference happening in Wilmington, North Carolina from October 16-18, 2025. We have three tracks for abstracts:

  • Track 1: Original Research
  • Track 2: Teaching Nursing and Healthcare History
  • Track 3: Thematic Proposals

While we encourage the submission of research & educational innovations that examine the historical significance of race and/or place for nursing or healthcare practice, education, and/or policy which align with our conference theme, as always, we are happy to receive abstracts on any aspect of nursing and healthcare history.  Abstracts are due February 28th via our Oxford Abstracts portal.  For more information on the call for abstracts, see our website.

Do you want to share information about our call for abstracts with your colleagues, students, and friends interested in nursing history? Send them a copy of our conference call for abstracts flyer! Links are available for both PNG and PDF files; share the PDF for the links to work.

In other annual conference news, you can now book your room at the conference hotel (Aloft Wilmington at Coastline Center) via this link. The conference rate is $189 USD/night. Your commitment to staying at the conference hotel not only enhances your experience with convenient access to all sessions and networking opportunities but also helps AAHN meet its contracted room block commitment, thus avoiding additional fees.

Virtual Healthcare History, Policy, and Equity Online Conference for Graduate Students and Early Career Researchers February 28-March 1

Due to the complexities of scheduling across global time zones there has been a slight change in the timing of this virtual conference.  We will now start at 11 am Eastern time on February 28th.

We are very fortunate to have this virtual conference feature a workshop, Turning Your Dissertation into a Book, with Manchester University Press Editor Meredith Carol and Nursing History and Humanities Series Editor Dr. Alannah Tomkins. Access the workshop by registering for the conference!

Registration for the virtual conference and a schedule of presentations is available here. The cost is $10 for student AAHN members, $20 for other AAHN members, and $50 for non-AAHN members. We would love for you to join us at the conference to support our students and early career researchers and hear some excellent research presentations.

With hearty best wishes,

Erin

Erin Spinney, PhD, MA, BA (Hons)