The Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing () is the second-largest nursing organization in the world with approximately 135,000 active members. While often referred to by
nurses
Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...
as simply Sigma, its official name is "Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing".
History
In 1922 six
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universit ...
students at the Indiana University Training School for Nurses (the present-day
IU School of Nursing) founded Sigma Theta Tau at their dormitory in
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
,
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
. They were:
They had the support of the Director of the Indiana University Training School for Nurses, Ethel Palmer Clarke (served 1915-1931), who is noted by the Society as being "instrumental" in their endeavor.
The Founders' vision for the new honor society was to advance the
nursing
Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...
profession as a science, support nursing scholarship, and to recognize its leaders. IU's ''Alpha chapter'' was officially chartered on , with the organization's first national conference held in 1929 in Indianapolis.
The society's name is derived from the initials of three Greek words: ''storga'', ''tharos'', and ''tima'', which mean "love," "courage," and "honor."
In 1936 the organization "funded the first recorded research grant" for nursing in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Since that time the organization has awarded more than $100,000 annually for nursing research around the world.[
Sigma’s Center for Nursing Scholarship was constructed on the IUPUI campus in 1989. By 2014 the society’s membership had grown to 130,000 active members in more than eighty-five countries and territories.][
]
Membership
More than 500,000 nurse scholars have been inducted into Sigma. It is the second largest nursing organization in the world. Its 580 chapters are located on more than 700 college and university campuses in the United States and countries including Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
, Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, China (Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
), South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, the Philippines, South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, Swaziland
Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...
, Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
and the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
Membership is by invitation to baccalaureate and graduate nursing students, who demonstrate excellence in scholarship, and to nurse leaders exhibiting exceptional achievements in nursing. Sixty-one percent of active members hold master’s and/or doctoral degrees; 56% have a specialty certification; 48% are clinicians; 40% have more than 15 years of work experience; 21% are administrators or supervisors, and 20% are educators or researchers. In addition to English, members are fluent in 20 other languages including Spanish, Dutch and Finnish.
As for the honor system, in July 2019, the 176th inductee was accepted in the Hall of Fame during a formal induction ceremony in Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
, Alberta, Canada, during the 30th International Nursing Research Congress, among other honorees coming from Sweden, Canada, Australia and the United States.
Student membership criteria
Graduate students (master's and doctorate) must have completed half of the nursing curriculum;
achieve academic excellence (at schools where a 4.0 grade point average system is used, this equates to a 3.5 or higher); and meet the expectation of academic integrity. They must also be in the top 35 percent of their nursing program cohort.
Nurse leader membership criteria
Nurse leader candidates must be legally recognized to practice nursing in his/her country;
have a minimum of a baccalaureate degree or the equivalent in any field; and demonstrate achievement in nursing.
Initiatives
''Sigma'' was one of the first organizations to fund nursing research in the United States. A US $600 grant awarded to Alice Crist Malone
Alice may refer to:
* Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname
Literature
* Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll
* ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...
of Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
in 1936 supported research to measure student achievement based on new curriculum objectives.[
With its chapters and grant partners (corporations, associations, and foundations) the society contributes more than US $650,000 annually to nursing research through grants, scholarships and monetary awards. More than 250 research-oriented educational programs are sponsored or co-sponsored annually by Sigma in the United States and internationally. The honor society has underwritten more than 250 small or "seed" grants, which often begin a whole body of research. These peer-reviewed grants are often the first recognition of potent concepts that eventually lead to major, wide-scale research projects and innovation in the nursing profession.
Sigma also has a nursing research repository, the ''Virginia Henderson Global Nursing e-Repository'', which offers nurses access to nursing research and evidence-based knowledge.
]
Publications
The society’s publishing arm produces two scholarly journals and numerous other publications.
Journals
* '' Journal of Nursing Scholarship'' is the official journal of Sigma Theta Tau. It was originally titled ''Image'' when first published starting in 1967, then continued as ''Image: the journal of nursing scholarship'' from 1984 until 1999.
*'' Worldviews on Evidence Based Nursing'', a peer-reviewed, evidence-based nursing journal, is a bimonthly primary source of information to improve patient care circulated since 2004. Another periodical of ''Online journal of knowledge synthesis for nursing''.
Books
Books are published covering the themes among: career advice, clinical information, education resources, leadership support and training, research guides and tools, as well as technology insights and answers contrasted with publications on more general topics related to a nurse's lifestyle, society and culture, target readership consists of clinical nurses and faculty members as well as nurse leaders, from student or new nurse to researchers.
Since 2007, Sigma Theta Tau has been awarded annually a publishing merit by the American Journal of Nursing by the judging board of nursing executives, college professors and clinicians. In 2018, there were two titles awarded.
*
*
*
*
* - 2nd Place 2018 AJN Book of the Year
* - 2nd Place, 2018 AJN Book of the Year
Symbolism
*The colors of the Society are Orchid and Fuschia.
*The symbols of the society are six stars, representing the Founders, and the Lamp of Knowledge.
See also
*List of nursing organizations National nursing organizations
*The Trained Nurses' Association of India
*United Nurses Association (India)
* Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders and Advocates
*American Nurses Association
*An Bord Altranais
*Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association
*C ...
*Evidence-Based Nursing
Evidence-based nursing (EBN) is an approach to making quality decisions and providing nursing care based upon personal clinical expertise in combination with the most current, relevant research available on the topic. This approach is using evid ...
*Alpha Tau Delta
Alpha Tau Delta () is a professional fraternity for students and industry professionals in the nursing fields. It was founded in 1921 at University of California, Berkeley as Alpha Tau.
History Alpha Tau Sorority
Nursing students at University ...
(professional fraternity, nursing)
*Chi Eta Phi
Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc () is an international, nonprofit, professional service organization for registered professional nurses and student nurses, representing many cultures and diverse ethnic backgrounds.[American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...]
(AACN), non-Greek letter, it is the largest nursing association in the world.
References
External links
ACHS Sigma Theta Tau entry
''Reflections on Nursing Leadership''
- Online magazine
{{Authority control
Association of College Honor Societies
Nursing organizations in the United States
1922 establishments in Indiana
Honor societies
Student organizations established in 1922
Medical and health organizations based in Indiana