Objective:

To describe the development of a mid-range theory "Empowerment for self-care of type 2 diabetes.

Method:

The mid-range theory have as a theoretical underpinings the self-care theory in nursing to focus in deficit from Orem. It was derived with Fawcett's method proposal, where the links between the theory concepts follows the hierarchical nursing acknowledge, and formalization of conceptual-theoretical-empirical structures, proposed by the author.

Results:

We obtain the identification, classification, propositions organization, and diagrams constructions of the mid-range theory develop "Empowerment for the type 2 diabetes self-care.

Conclusions:

The mid-range theory is able to contribute to build nursing science by integrating nursing theory existing with empirical knowledge. As a suggest to test the mid-range theory through quasi-experimental and experimental study designs.