The Nursing Theory section on StudyingNurse.com is your complete guide to understanding, comparing, and applying the frameworks that shape modern nursing practice. This collection brings together 82 key nursing theories and the theorists behind them — from Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory to Kolcaba’s Comfort Theory and Leininger’s Culture Care Theory.
Each guide explores a theorist’s background, core concepts, and real-world applications, helping nursing students connect theory to evidence-based practice. You’ll find concise explanations of grand, middle-range, and practice-level theories, along with examples that show how these ideas influence patient care, leadership, education, and research.
Whether you’re preparing a nursing theory paper, developing a conceptual framework for your project, or simply strengthening your understanding of professional foundations, this section provides clear, accessible summaries written by experienced nurse educators.
Some of the featured guides include:
Imogene King’s Goal Attainment Theory
Madeleine Leininger’s Culture Care Theory
Dorothy Johnson’s Behavioral System Model
Lydia Hall’s Core, Care, and Cure Model
Myra Levine’s Conservation Model
Katharine Kolcaba’s Comfort Theory
The goal of this section is simple: to help you see how nursing theory guides practice, improves patient outcomes, and defines the profession’s unique role in healthcare.
What is Nursing Theory? Nursing theory is a structured framework that explains, describes, predicts, or prescribes nursing care and human health experiences. Nursing theory provides the foundation for nursing knowledge…
Erickson nursing theory helps nurses care for their patients by recognizing each individual's uniqueness, and focusing on the individual patient's needs. This theory stands as one of the most influential frameworks in modern…
Explore the Lydia E. Hall Care, Core, and Cure Model to enhance nursing practices and patient care with this insightful guide into her innovative framework.
Explore the fundamentals of Myra Estrine Levine's Conservation Model and its impact on holistic nursing and patient care. Dive into energy conservation insights.