Remembering: Joyce Crutchfield, PhD

Former colleagues of UNMC College of Nursing’s Joyce Crutchfield, PhD, say she was passionate about higher education and health care. Dr. Crutchfield passed away May 24 at age 87.









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Joyce Crutchfield, PhD

Dr. Crutchfield, who earned her PhD from George Washington University, was an emeritus associate professor at the UNMC College of Nursing, nurse practitioner and faculty member. She also served as assistant dean at the UNMC College of Nursing West Nebraska Division in Scottsbluff shortly after it opened, and she stayed for several years.

She also served her country in the 1950s as a nurse in the U.S. Navy and Reserve.

There is no public funeral or memorial service. Condolence messages are being accepted online at Lincoln Memorial Funeral Home.

“Joyce was a professor of nursing for much of her professional career,” said Sue Barneson, PhD, professor and interim dean at the UNMC College of Nursing Lincoln Division. “Her passion for teaching and in her roles as an administrator and clinician she influenced and mentored countless students and colleagues.”

“Dr. Crutchfield was an excellent editor for reading grants and articles,” said Lani Zimmerman, PhD, professor in the UNMC College of Nursing Lincoln Division. “She was always willing to help others when needed.”

Said Kate Fiandt, professor and associate dean for transformational practice and partnerships, UNMC College of Nursing: “In 1994 when I was a faculty member in what was an educational program for those who wanted to become faculty in the nurse practitioner program, Joyce was one of my students. She was a great student and maintained an adult nurse practitioner practice for years in Lincoln. She covered teaching for me in 2006 and 2007 when my husband was in hospice. I will always be grateful that she lifted that burden from me.”