With its four previous editions the European Nursing Congress has established itself as a major event for nurses, researchers, managers and policy makers from Europe and, increasingly, from all parts of the globe. Initiated in 1992 to commemorate the 1892 ‘gathering of people interested in nursing ‘ by two Dutch pioneers in nursing Anna Reynvaan en damsel Jeltje de Bosch Kemper under the title Reassessing Nursing Care: a Challenge for Nurses in the 21^st Century, the second (Empowerment of the Chronically ill, a Challenge for Nursing 1997) and third (Vulnerable Groups in Society: a Nursing Issue 2003) had growing numbers of participants. The 2010 congress Older Persons, the Future of Care in Rotterdam attracted a thousand attendants.