The WRR report, “Choosing Sustainable Care: People, Resources and Social Support” shows that approximately one in seven employees in the Netherlands now works in healthcare, and in order to meet demand this should rise to one in three in the next forty years. As that is not sustainable, creative approaches are needed to rethink the roles of nurses, as well as others, in reforming healthcare. This 2-day symposium and workshop for nurses and nursing researchers builds on interdisciplinary collaboration in the Health Humanities to explore how history, philosophy, heritage, and the arts, can contribute to this challenge. Key questions include what is nursing work (in the past, in the future), how fluid are the boundaries of that work, and which kinds of collaboration are useful for achieving sustainable care?

Demonstrating creative approaches to nursing training and practice, the symposium brings together nurses, nurse educators, historians, philosophers, organization scientists, heritage professionals and others working at the intersection of humanities and health to share ideas, build new connections, and help to shape debate and decision-making about care in transition.

May 23: Day 1 Symposium (in English) 9:00-18:00 is devoted to academic presentations demonstrating the value of different disciplinary perspectives on nursing, focusing on specific case studies as examples. Keynote speakers will reflect on the relevance of history and philosophy for nursing today. The symposium concludes with a presentation of the new book Reinventing the Good Life: An Empirical Contribution to Philosophy of Care by Jeanette Pols and a reception. LOCATION: Humanities Labs (Room F.001 Bushuis), Kloveniersburgwal 48, University of Amsterdam

*PLEASE NOTE: SEPARATE REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED FOR EACH DAY*

May 24: Day 2 Workshop (in Dutch) is devoted to lightning talks, interactive workshops, and hands-on sessions demonstrating creative approaches currently in development and to engage and inspire nurses in the uses of the arts and humanities in their own work. REGISTRATION FOR DAY 2: https://www.venvn.nl/agenda/symposium-creative-care/