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Definition of Sigma Theta Tau
Medically reviewed by Dr. Otari Nergadze, Neurosurgeon | Updated: January 2026
Sigma Theta Tau: The international honor society for nursing. Membership is by invitation to baccalaureate and graduate nursing students, who demonstrate excellence in scholarship, and to community leaders exhibiting exceptional achievements in nursing.
More than a quarter million nurse scholars have been inducted into Sigma Theta Tau. Sixty percent of the currently active 120,000 members in Sigma Theta Tau hold master's and/or doctoral degrees. More than 60% are clinicians, 23% are administrators or supervisors, and 17% are educators or researchers.
Sigma Theta Tau was founded in 1922 by six nursing students at Indiana University to "advance the status of nursing as a profession."