This document provides an introduction and overview of nursing theory. It defines key concepts such as theory, paradigm, domain, and components of a theory. It describes the purposes of nursing theory as guiding nursing practice and generating knowledge. Nursing theory can be categorized into grand, middle-range, descriptive, and prescriptive theories. The document emphasizes that nursing theory should be rooted in everyday nursing practice and discusses how nurses can utilize theory in practice. It also notes that nursing draws from non-nursing theories and that theory provides direction for nursing research.