education

13th Edition of the Intensive Course in Nursing Ethics

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From 2 to 5 December 2025, the KU Leuven Centre for Biomedical Ethics and Law will be organising the 13th edition of the intensive course on nursing ethics. The course is interdisciplinary and draws on philosophy, nursing and clinical ethics.

During the course, experts from Belgium and abroad will give lectures on various topics within nursing ethics. During this edition, special attention will be paid to:

  • the ethical foundation of nursing,
  • dealing with nursing-ethical dilemmas,
  • moral distress and ethical leadership in healthcare,
  • nursing-ethical reasoning styles,
  • characteristics of the ethically competent nurse (EU PROMOCON project),
  • relational autonomy in end-of-life care,
  • the ethics of tele-palliative care,ethics in neonatology and paediatrics,
  • qualitative research in nursing ethics (QUAGOL).

There is plenty of time for discussion. The language of instruction is English.

The course is aimed at participants with diverse professional backgrounds such as nursing, medicine, psychology, social work, pastoral work, philosophy, health care and PhD students in all these areas. Lecturers from colleges, members of ethics committees and managers from all sectors of health care are particularly invited.

For more information and registration, please visit our course website 13th Edition of the Intensive Course on Foundational Approaches, Contemporary and Educational Issues in the Field of Nursing Ethics — KU Leuven or www.cbmer.be directly. On this website, you can also find information in the brochure. You can also email Chris.Gastmans. The deadline for early bird registration is October 15.

SUMMER COURSE: ETHICS IN DEMENTIA CARE Leuven 2022

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The number of persons with dementia will rise considerably in the years to come. The increasing prevalence of dementia and the treatment and care for people with dementia present a myriad of important ethical questions and responsibilities. What do we think of the quality of life of people with dementia and of their
subsequent end of life? What are the opinions about vulnerability and dignity in case of dementia? What do we consider to be ‘good care’ and ‘a good death’ for persons with dementia?
The objective of the course is to foster exchanges on foundational, clinical-ethical and organisational-ethical approaches to dementia care.

This course starts from an interdisciplinary perspective (incorporating philosophy, theology, medicine, social sciences, nursing, as well as normative and empirical ethics). During the course, national and international experts will give presentations on various ethical topics in the domain of dementia care. Time
will be provided for intensive discussion and interaction. The language of instruction will be English.

The reading materials will be distributed electronically before the start of the summer course.
Accreditation points ‘Economy and Ethics’ for Belgian physicians and accreditation points of the Dutch ‘Stichting Kwaliteitsregister Geestelijk Verzorgers’ are requested.

The fee for the on-campus course will be € 850 if you register and pay as a participant before May 15th 2022; € 950 for registration and payment from May 15th 2022 onwards. Reduced registration fee for participants from Eastern Europe and Low Income Countries is € 650 (before May 15th 2022) and € 750 (from May 15th 2022 onwards). This fee includes tuition and course materials, as well as refreshments, four lunches, and a dinner. Deadline for registration and payment: June 15th 2022. Detailed information on
registration and payment can be found here  or here  under Summer Course.

Full information on the course can be found here

 

The Third International Young Carers Conference

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The need to “IDENTIFY, SUPPORT, AND LISTEN TO YOUNG CARERS” are the main recommendations identified by young carers themselves during the previous conference and this entails the participation of a wide range of stakeholders. This 3rd International Young Carers Conference will build on these recommendations and reflect on the concrete actions required to enable young carers to reach their full potential.
The Conference aims to shed light on the state-of-the-art in research and practice related to the needs and situation of young carers across the world. The call for abstracts is open for policy-makers, professionals working with young carers and young carers themselves to share current research, policy initiative, innovative practice, legislation or personal experience. Deadline Thursday 30th April see the link call for abstracts

Young carers are children and young people who provide care for a parent or relative with long-lasting limitations (chronic illness, disability, frailty or addiction). They carry out, often on a regular basis and without help or support, substantial caring tasks and assume a level of responsibility which would usually be associated with an adult. In Europe, it is estimated that around 7-8% of children have caregiving responsibilities.

While there are positive aspects to caring, many young carers provide care at great personal expense: they may struggle to balance their daily life with caregiving responsibilities, experience mental health issues as a result of their caregiving, face barriers in relation to school, further education and employment, they may also have less time for personal development and leisure and feel isolated.

The International Young Carers Conference is open to all researchers, civil society organisations, practitioners, decision makers, service providers and policy makers interested to learn about strategies implemented in different countries to listen to, identify and support young carers (what worked, what did not work, what can be replicated).

For more information, see the conference website or contact Ciara O’Dwyer