Summary•There are a number of health behaviour models and theories available to nurses which have been developed to explain and predict health behaviour. Of particular interest to nurses in recent years is the ‘health belief model’ which has been the most widely used.•Despite a wealth of evidence to support the model's value in predicting health behaviour, often it is evident that there are a substantial number of factors involved in health behaviour which are not health related and are therefore not easily predicted by the model. Cigarette smoking is one interesting example due to the many physiological and psychological factors involved that are not health related.•Another model, the ‘theory of reasoned action’, may be useful in understanding such a complex behaviour as cigarette smoking as it relys not only on health beliefs but also takes into consideration personal factors which are seen as relevant by smokers such as social influence and the individuals positive or negative evaluation of giving up or continuing smoking and it is these factors according to the model, which underlie whether or not a person will intend to give up or continue to smoke.•The theory of reasoned action may be a useful tool to both health educators and nu