{"id":21151,"date":"2026-04-07T11:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nursing\/?p=21151"},"modified":"2026-04-07T11:19:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:19:11","slug":"uri-nursing-dean-to-deliver-keynote-address-at-national-ethics-of-caring-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nursing\/2026\/04\/07\/uri-nursing-dean-to-deliver-keynote-address-at-national-ethics-of-caring-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"URI nursing dean to deliver keynote address at national Ethics of Caring conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dean Danny Willis to focus on \u2018well-becoming,\u2019 morality in health care<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Focusing on the practice of \u201cwell-becoming\u201d\u2014the process of flourishing and striving toward well-being\u2014from a health care standpoint, University of Rhode Island College of Nursing Dean Danny Willis will deliver the keynote address<\/a> at the Ethics of Caring national conference April 16-17 at the University of California Los Angeles\u2019 Luskin Conference Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEthics of Caring: Building a Moral Community\u201d invites all health care professionals to \u201cexplore the intersection of healthcare practice and ethical considerations in patient care. The 2026 National Nursing Ethics Conference continues to provide a foundation for moral community where dialogue, reflection, skill-building, exploration, growth, and flourishing combine to sustain these goals. Come join us to learn together how to intentionally collaborate, build relationships, and engage in respectful dialogue in a nurturing environment in which to grow and sustain ethical care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded in 1993, the Ethics of Caring<\/a> conference brings together nurses and other health care professionals from multiple facilities to support frontline workers and explore ethic issues in health care. The organization holds an annual National Nursing Ethics Conference, exposing attendees to national leaders, clinicians, researchers, and educators in ethics, and fostering discussion on ethical and moral dilemmas in health care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willis, who will also lead a workshop on nursing ethics during the conference, has a history of conducting research on healing and well-being, and incorporating the science and art of caring into the curriculum at URI, and routinely advocates for the practice of \u201cwell-becoming\u201d and the Theory of Human Caring developed by Dr. Jean Watson, founder of Center for Human Caring and the Watson Caring Science Institute<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have an opportunity to evolve with the times using our situations and experiences as leverage for betterment and transcending current states,\u201d Willis said while hosting the International Association for Human Caring<\/a> annual conference last summer. \u201cNurse leaders who are committed to transforming well-being and environments can hold well-becoming for all as a high ethical commitment in support of all people\u2019s highest evolution. The role of nursing is clear. Our discipline, and therefore our profession, is focused on wholeness, well-being, humanization, consciousness, relationship, pattern, meaning and purpose, caring, healing, environments, and transcending. Nursing, as a caring-healing profession, provides a much-needed transforming presence in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of his keynote presentation, Willis met with organizers of the Ethics of Caring conference to detail his address and discuss morality and ethics<\/a> in health care:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: When you think about \u201cbuilding moral community,\u201d what comes to mind? <\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: Moral community is guided by the key principles and values that we live by: human dignity, respect, care for all, social justice. These are very central to a nursing conception of moral community. I am very influenced by the work of the theorist, philosopher and nurse Jean Watson. She talks about our commitment as health care professionals to care for the other in the face of their vulnerability. All of us are vulnerable to some degree, especially when we are sick. To maintain that human dignity and that human connection is what guides me. We must put the patient, the family, and the community in the middle of the circle. Nurses are good at illuminating the multifaceted perspective of what this human, this family, this community really needs. Nursing brings together that holistic viewpoint. The undergirding values really drive what it means to be a moral agent as a nurse. It\u2019s bringing in all the various components\u2014health, well-being, the alleviation of suffering\u2014in the context of the individual\u2019s life circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/em><\/strong> <\/em>What relationships have been important to you in building a moral community to support your practice as a nurse, faculty member, and leader?<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: Caring relationships are the fundamental priority in any of those spaces. There are many people, individually or as a collective, that have influenced me and are essential to my journey. Much of my work as a nurse is about helping people see beyond the immediacy of their physical, psychological, or even spiritual suffering. It is the healing presence of a relationship that establishes a sense of peace. A relationship is when you\u2019re able to see the other. You\u2019re able to understand, but not experience, their suffering. It\u2019s the type of empathy that allows you to be on their journey as a resource and facilitator. Many patients and colleagues have influenced me in this way to build community. We continue to learn from one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What will your presentation at the conference focus on, and why is this topic important right now?<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: My talk is about \u201cwell-becoming,\u201d a term that is not so familiar to people. Well-being is a moment in time. I could ask you what your sense of well-being is right now on a scale of 0-10, where 10 is I\u2019m thriving\u2014everything is working well, I\u2019m revived and energetic\u2014and 0 is I\u2019m in the pits, I couldn\u2019t be any lower. Well-being is a state<\/em>. \u201cWell-becoming\u201d is a life process whereby we are attendant to our own patterns and how they\u2019re showing up in our life\u2014through the decisions we\u2019re making, through the intentions we have, through the choices we make\u2014such that we\u2019re prioritizing those states of well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s always evolving, and we\u2019re learning as we go. How did I go from 0 to 100 in this situation? I was in a calm state, and 5 minutes later, I\u2019m in a state of panic, anxiety, or anger. It\u2019s getting people to think about how they\u2019re the owner and creator of their own being, and the process of being, over time, is a process of becoming. It\u2019s a little philosophical, but it\u2019s also what I know about life at 59 years of age, which is that we\u2019re continuously evolving, and it requires us to be aware. It requires us to make choices that are deliberate and intentional, to understand how it has an effect on our own sense of peace, harmony, concordance. But also the ripple effects that it has on the environment based on what choices we\u2019re making, how we\u2019re showing up, and how we\u2019re being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clinician well-being is one of the most important things that we have to embrace as a moral community because it has ripple effects. It\u2019s an ethical responsibility to take care of yourself before you can take care of anyone else. In nursing, we have not been very good with this historically; we don\u2019t necessarily prioritize our own self-care because it seems inconsistent with the mission when you put everybody else first. Your care of self is also a priority. Your well-being affects the well-being of the environment and the patients you care for. You\u2019re able to be an agent of well-being once you understand it in your own lived experience. There\u2019s burnout, there\u2019s stress, there are shortages across most healthcare disciplines. It\u2019s really challenging for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is one of the most important issues we face as a moral community. How are we agents of change and transformation for the environment and our own lives? It\u2019s not just one and done, focusing on individual states of well-being. \u201cWell-becoming\u201d adds a process framework where we\u2019re always evolving and ultimately getting to a place where we\u2019re aware and able to transcend over time. I am nowhere near perfect, but I am very far along in a journey of understanding how I influence my own being and how my being influences other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: If you could give one piece of advice to a new health care professional about ethics and building a moral community, what would it be?<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: Know your North Star. Know what your purpose is and what you came here to achieve. I believe, personally, that I came here to be a force for good and to provide care, compassion, and love to humanity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dean Danny Willis to focus on \u2018well-becoming,\u2019 morality in health care Focusing on the practice of \u201cwell-becoming\u201d\u2014the process of flourishing and striving toward well-being\u2014from a health care standpoint, University of Rhode Island College of Nursing Dean Danny Willis will deliver the keynote address at the Ethics of Caring national conference April 16-17 at the University of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1710,"featured_media":21152,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1710"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21151"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21153,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21151\/revisions\/21153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nursing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}