The third international conference, Building and Promoting Excellence in Practice, organised by the School of Nursing and Midwifery at NUI Galway, will bring together leaders in the field of nursing and midwifery to share their experiences of clinical care and research. The conference will be held from 4 to 5 April, in Áras Moyola, NUI Galway. The conference will cover topics relevant to the fields of chronic illness, mental health, older people, maternity care and women's health, and teaching and learning in practice. "This year's conference is particularly important", said conference chair, NUI Galway's Dr Declan Devane. "Faced with rapidly changing health care contexts, new research initiatives and demanding resource constraints, the opportunity for health care professionals to come together to discuss best practice is vital. Thoughtful practice is at the heart of making a difference to those accessing our health care services; this conference supports thoughtful practice by sharing ideas research and innovations". The keynote speaker will be Margarete Sandelowski, Distinguished Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Professor Sandelowski's research has been in the areas of technology and gender, and qualitative and mixed research methodology. She just completed a National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Nursing Research study to develop methods to synthesize qualitative and quantitative research findings in systematic reviews of empirical research. She has numerous publications in both nursing and social science venues, including award-winning ethnographic work. The keynote speech will address 'The Challenges of Conducting Mixed Research Synthesis Studies for Evidence-Based Practice and Practice-Based Evidence'. The conference will also feature a keynote discussion from Professor Phil Race, the renowned educationalist who has a particular interest in how people learn best. He specialises in assessment, learning and teaching. His passion and focus for this conference will be on 'Making Learning Happen'. Professor Race's work was recognised in 2007 by the Higher Education Academy UK awarding him a National Teaching Fellowship, and the status of Senior Fellow of the Academy. The inspirational speaker John Lonergan, former governor of Mountjoy Prison, will also give a keynote address based on his personal experiences of personhood and humanising care in the prison services. He argues that our first responsibility as a society is to care for its most vulnerable people, the young, the old, the sick, the unemployed, the lonely and the poor. It is estimated that over 200 delegates will attend this conference which will feature over 100 presentations from national and international speakers. The conference will be of interest to all health professionals working in nursing or midwifery. For more information visit www.nursingmidwifery.ie -ends-