Jocalyn’s passing is especially poignant given that in 2026, the University of Sydney Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery (Sydney Nursing School) recognises the 35^th year of nursing as an academic discipline and university degree at the University of Sydney.

Jocalyn (or Joc to many) had an exemplary academic career which began at the Armidale College of Advanced Education (later the University of New England). She joined the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Sydney in 1992, becoming Pro-Dean and then Dean from 1999 – 2007. Jocalyn contributed to the University of Sydney in many ways, including philanthropic contributions to the university’s mission and goals.

The hallmarks of Jocalyn’s Deanship included:

• The addition of a midwifery program to existing nursing degrees (thus prompting a change of name to the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery)
• The introduction of the pre-registration graduate entry Master of Nursing program
• The introduction of the Bachelor of Nursing (Indigenous Health)
• The introduction of the Bachelor of Nursing (Post-registration) in Singapore, in conjunction with the Singapore Institute of Management

Many of these programs continue today.

Jocalyn commenced her nursing career in Broken Hill, and from the outset, was a tenacious advocate for the nursing profession. In her early career as an operating theatre nurse in Sydney and Tamworth, she was an active member of the former NSW Nurses’ Association and the previous NSW Nurses’ Registration Board. She was a member of Council for the former NSW College of Nursing (1991 – 1997), and President in 1993. Jocalyn was also a founding participant and inaugural president of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Nursing (ANZAN) and a co-author of the constitution and rules to establish the Australian Council of Deans of Nursing. She was awarded Fellowship of the Australian College of Nursing when founded in 2012

Those of us who knew Jocalyn remember her undeniable passion, clarity and commitment (some would say dogged determination) for the development and articulation of nursing research, and recognition of the unique nature of nursing knowledge and practice.

Her research and extensive publications largely focused on aspects of nursing care (body care) that had previously been hidden, stigmatised or taken for granted. This research challenged the dominance of medical/scientific knowledge to propose what is now referred to as holistic or person-centred care. Her concern was that intimate nursing practices were not recognised as formal knowledge or valued by other disciplines because of their ‘invisibility’. Further, there was a lack of research and academic discourse to describe and understand the context of this knowlege.

In her first book, Behind the Screens: Nursing, Somology and the Problem of the Body (first published in 1991), Jocalyn articulated the complexity and sophistication of the ways in which nurses manage care, particularly the intimate and taboo nature of body care – what nurses do to, and for, patients/people.

Jocalyn coined the term ‘somology’ as the study of the care of the body, focusing on how nurses manage, interact with, and understand the human body as both a physical object and part of a person's experience. Somology gave nursing a language to describe the crucial social components of body care and its centrality to the intimate nature of skilled nursing care.

Behind the Screens is also known as La Face Cachée des Soins: Soins au corps, intimité et pratique (French version) and Bak skjermbrettene. Sykepleie, somologi og kroppslige problemer (Norwegian version). It remains in print and is distributed in France, Belgium, Norway and North America.

On hearing of Jocalyn’s death, Seli Arslan (the publisher of Jocalyn’s works in France) wrote: “Jocalyn was indeed an extraordinary person and a beautiful writer too. I just go on quoting her to nurses and teachers. Here, in France, it is so rare to read such a quality of works. It will be one of my best memories as a publisher”.

We will miss Jocalyn’s astonishing intellect and the ease with which she made complex issues seem self-evident. Her contribution to the nursing academy was both foundational and aspirational for nursing and midwifery at Sydney.

We recognise our privilege to have been a student, colleague, research collaborator and dear friend of Joc. Many of us will have a ‘Jocalyn story’. She was a trailblazer in so many ways.

Stuart Newman
Former Director International Programs and Lecturer in Health Services Management
Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery
The University of Sydney

Donna Waters
Professor of Nursing
Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery
The University of Sydney