I learned this morning that Dr. Jacqueline Fawcett died peacefully at her home in Waldoboro, Maine. She was with her husband and sister, resting quietly. Jacqui just had her 87th birthday on March 18th.
Many of us knew Jacqui as a towering figure in nursing theory. She was clear, disciplined, and unwavering in her commitment to nursing and nursology as a scholarly discipline. Her work shaped how generations of nurses think about theory, knowledge, and the intellectual foundations of our field.
I first heard Jacqui speak more than four decades ago, at a Sigma Theta Tau Regional Assembly at Adelphi University, sometime around 1981 or 1982. That was our first meeting. Over the years, we became what I have come to call “frolleagues”—friendly colleagues. (That relationship, notably, did not extend to sharing a double bed at a Sigma meeting—a story for another time.)
At Writer’s Camp, I have been fortunate to host some of Jacqui’s work. In January, we published her article, “Writing a Column for a Nursology Journal: A Personal Experience,” which includes her annotations of the “Essays on Nursing Science” columns she wrote in Nursing Science Quarterly from 2012 to 2025. It is a remarkable record of sustained scholarly reflection.
On April 2nd, we will release a Trail Pack on Nursing Theory Think Tanks, which includes a video recorded on February 13 with Jacqui, Afaf Meleis, and Peggy Chinn. In it, Jacqui is doing what she always did—thinking, engaging, and speaking about nursing theory. I now recognize this as one of her final recorded conversations, and I am honored to be able to share it.
Jacqui often ended her communications with a single word: “Onward!” It was not casual. It was a stance—a commitment to continuing the work of the scholarship of nursology with clarity and purpose.
Today, we pause to remember her. And then, as she would have us do, we continue. And if you wish, please share a thought or memory in the comments.
Onward!
A towering and profoundly important Guardian of the Discipline of Nursing shall be missed. My heart gently weeps, yet I believe that she would want us all to follow the long and winding path “Onward”!
All the more reason to embrace the moments, cherish nursing’s history, and honor our Guardians.
What a wonderful moment you captured from the February 13th video – I am holding a photo of Margaret Newman – the founder of the Theory Tanks that we discuss in the video! We will miss Jacqui terribly – but going forward we will celebrate and appreciate her many contributions to our community and to our disciplines.
Dear Peggy
Thanks for your warm comment, for your collaboration with Jacqui and also with myself. When I was young (I became 70 this March), I was touched by your patterns of knowing and by Fawcett’s theories – both (and other theories/models) were ALWAYS in the curricula I developed, and also in my courses (on all teaching levels from BSN to MSN and doctoral degrees classes. But also in my work when consulting and teaching bed-side nurses (which I did as a free-lancer along my University career, in order to bring science to patients/families and homes).
Warm regards, Maria
PS: Maria Müller Staub, we met again at NursologyNet when I published the Advanced Nursing Process and also the papers on Nurses Responsibility. Im so glad you go on, as do others in this writer camp, to bring back theories into curricula and other areas.
We had it for MANY MANY years as central part in Switzerlands education and practice. It was lost (after the US was falling back in a “theory free” nursing world). Then, later the EU and last, also Switzerland lost it. Im so glad our efforts pay off and the core of Nursology comes back.
Such a giant in nursing thought leadership. It is startling to hear that she is so suddenly gone. But in characteristic style, sounds as if she was continuing to work and contribute to disciplinary thought right to the end. She leaves an enormous legacy for us all.
I met Dr. Fawcett before I was even a nurse. She was—if you can believe it—my *undergraduate advisor* at Penn. I had no idea who she was when I met her during the first week of the semester. I soon learned, of course! She supported me when I applied to grad school, and she convinced me to take her graduate-level theory course in my final undergrad semester. We connected again years later when I had her as a guest speaker in my nursing philosophy course. I will, of course, continue to introduce future students to her through her amazing columns and articles. Onward, indeed.
What a wonderful remembrance of such a true nursing scholar and leader. Thanks.
I am deeply saddened today. Dr. Fawcett was a true legend in nursing. Her impact on the profession is immeasurable, but what I’m most grateful for is everything she shared with me, her time, her talents, and her friendship. Agree with others, she would often say in closing remarks, ‘Onward,’ so for her, we will keep pressing on; moving forward with the same strength and spirit she showed us.
Really sad news. I knew her very well and my wife and son – then 10 years old, now married with his own son – spent a very pleasant few hours with her in Boston over 20 years ago; lunch and then a chat in her ‘bedsit’ (the biggest one I have ever seen) in the old French quarter. She used to fly in from Maine every week. She often kept me on the ‘straight and narrow’ regarding matters of editing and writing. She came to Edinburgh to have lunch with Jim Smith (fouding Editor of JAN), and Alison Tierney and me to celebrate the 40th anniversary of JAN. That was 10 years ago as the 50th anniversary of JAN is this year and being celebrated at the Sigma conference in Toronto. (I’ve not been invited as I am not in favour with Wiley or the JAN EiC).
I am a professor of nursing theories here in Brazil, at the Federal University of Paraná, and we base our research, classes, and studies on great references such as Jacqueline Fawcett. May she rest in peace.
Her foundational work in nursing philosophy and theory has touched generations of nurses and shaped our discipline as few have. She leaves a legacy to build on, adapt to the future, and move our profession onward. A living legacy indeed! Heartfelt condolences to her family and friends.
Thank you to all for sharing their memories and experiences with Dr. Fawcett.
Indeed she will always remain a key nursing scholar and leader.
How sad to hear this. Jacqui was one of my favorite doctoral professors at PENN. Her conceptual thinking was so clear and always admired by me. I will always remember her C-T-E model of outlining a theory. One time after graduation, I was writing a grant and didn’t really have a good idea of my theory so I asked Jacqui at a conference about what I was proposing and why…and she drew a theory for me on a napkin. I still have that napkin and may even frame it now. What a giant in nursing scholarship! Of course I always used her material when I taught my own PhD theory course. Rest in peace, Jacqui, you will be sorely missed, but will live on in all your published work.- Pat Patrician
Jacqui was the best! She recently agreed to be a Senior Associate Editor at Policy, Politics & Nursing Practice and I was fortunate to renew my contact with her. She was meticulous and always on time in her work our journal. Her ideas will be used by generations of nurses to come. I will miss her.
The world has lost a kind and wise spirit. May her words and philosophies continue to live on.
I just quoted Jacqui last week while doing my radio program, “The Nurse Practitioner Show.” We were discussing ways that we know what to do and she came to mind! A pre-eminent scholar who moved nursing onward in ways that can never be counted! She was a proud alumna of NYU and generous to doctoral scholarship awardees! Onward, Jacqui!