Nursing theories are the support of today's nursing practice. They are important for nursing practice, education and scientific research because they help determine what is already known and what additional knowledge and skills are needed. Nurses are usually first exposed to nursing theories during nursing education, and further exposure occurs through practical training. Knowledge gained about nursing theories, through education and training, improves better outcomes for patients and caregivers, enables the application of professional boundaries, and aids in decision making. In this article I will try to analyze, in general, the importance of nursing theory for the nursing profession; discuss middle range theory, as well as Benner's skill acquisition model and how this theory addresses the nursing metaparadigm; and how this theory views nursing education. Over the last century, nursing has made notable achievements that have led to the recognition of nursing as an academic discipline and as a profession. Essential to this journey has been the belief that nursing must elevate the nature of its work and that nursing is different from medicine, but equally worthy of professional status. While there is no general agreement on what establishes the correct characteristics of a profession, the following characteristics are often distinguished: “a unique set of knowledge, selfless service to society, a code of ethics, meaningful education and socialization, and autonomy in practice, i.e. reasonable independence in decision-making about practice and control of the working situation and conditions” (Liaschenko & Peter, 2003, p. 489). These characteristics are clearly distinguished in the nursing profession and validated by pr...... middle of document ......160.172/NSTD/V17/N46/3425.pdfEnglish, I. (1993). Intuition as a function of the expert nurse: A critique of Benner's novice-to-expert model. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 18(3), 387-393.Gobet, F. and Chassy, ​​​​P. (2008). Toward an alternative to Benner's theory of expert intuition in nursing: A discussion paper. International Journal Of Nursing Studies, 45(1), 129-139.Liaschenko, J., & Peter, E. (2004). Nursing ethics and conceptualizations of nursing: profession, practice and work. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 46(5), 488-495. Lyneham, J., Parkinson, C., & Denholm, C. (2008). Explaining Benner's concept of expert practice: Insight into emergency nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 64(4), 380-387. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2008.04799.xMurphy, D. (2012). From novice to expert: Clinical ladder programs as a recruitment and retention tool. Ohio Nurses Review, 87(5), 16-17.