General agreement on the focus on caring in the human health experience has facilitated a shift to a participatory, relational process as a basis of nursing research and practice. Selected concepts from nursing theories are addressed to illustrate the unity of the structure of the discipline, which provides the foundation for nursing practice.

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and University of Tennessee, Memphis (Dr Newman); Christine E Lynn College of Nursing, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton (Dr Smith); College of St Catherine, St Paul, Minnesota (Dr Pharris); and William F Connell School of Nursing, Boston College, and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (Dr Jones).

Corresponding Author: Marlaine C. Smith, PhD, RN, AHN-BC, FAAN, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton, FL 33431 (Marlaine.Smith@fau.edu).