Transcultural Nursing Theory

Madeleine Leininger was born on July 13,

1925 in Sutton, Nebraska

She obtained her basic nursing education at St.

Anthony School of Nursing in Denver, Colorado.

1940

She became aware of the importance of caring

to nursing.

Statements made by the patients expressing

their appreciation for nursing care changed her

view of caring values and led her focus on care

as dominant culture of nursing.

1948

She graduated from St. Anthony School of

Nursing.

Benedictine College

She merited her Bachelor of Science degree.

She was the first professional nurse with

graduate preparation in nursing to hold a PhD

in cultural and social anthropology.

Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas

Mid 1950’s

She went through what she relates to as cultural shock

when she was a nurse in a child guidance home in the

Midwestern United States.

She was working as a clinical nurse specialist with

disturbed children and their parents.

Her experiences led her to become the first

professional nurse in the world to earn a doctorate in

anthropology.

She led to the development of the new field of

Transcultural Nursing as a subfield of nursing.

1966 (University of Colorado)

She offered the first transcultural nursing

course with field experiences.

She developed her theory of Transcultural

Nursing by:

Defining the ways on how people of

different cultures can see their nursing

world

Focusing on the people’s general beliefs

and practices

Her belief that different cultures have both health practices that are specific to one’s culture and prevailing patterns are common across cultures led to the addition of terms “Diversity” and “Universality” to the title of her theory.

Person

Human beings are best explained in her

assumptions.

Human care is collective, that is seen in all cultures.

Human have endured within cultures and through

place and time because they have been able to care

for infants, children and the elderly in a variety of

ways and in many different environments.

Humans are universally caring beings who survive in

a diversity of cultures through their ability to provide

the universality of care in a variety of ways according

to different cultures, needs and settings.

She also indicates that nursing as a caring science

should focus ahead on traditional nurse-patient

interactions to include families, groups, communities,

cultures, institutions as well as worldwide health

institutional nursing care policies and practices.

Environment

Included events with meanings and

interpretations given to them

particularly in physical, ecological,

socio political and cultural settings.

In terms of environment, Leininger speaks

about worldview, social structure and

environmental context.

Environment framework is defined as

being the totality of an event, situation or

experience.

Health

Health is a key concept in transcultural nursing.

Health is seen as being universal in different

cultures but it varies within each culture in a way

that represents the beliefs, values, and practices

of the particular culture.

Health is both universal and diverse.

Nursing

Madeleine Leininger showed her concern

to nurses with insufficient preparation for a

transcultural perspective.

For that reason, they will not be able to

value nor practice such viewpoint to the

fullest extent possible.

Madeleine Leininger gave three types of

nursing actions that are culturally-based

and consistent with the needs and values

of the clients. These are:

Cultural care preservation/maintenance

Cultural care accommodation/negotiation

Cultural care repatterning/restructuring

These three modes of action can:

lead to the deliverance of nursing care that

best fits with the client’s culture

reduce cultural stress

reduce chances of conflict between the

client and nurse

Transcultural Theory in Nursing

A humanistic and scientific area of formal

study and practice in nursing which is focused

upon differences and similarities among

cultures with respect to human care, health

and illness based upon the people's cultural

values, beliefs and practices to use this

knowledge to provide nursing care to people

based on specific cultures.

Goals of Transcultural Nursing

To give nursing care that is suitable to the

client’s culture

To provide universal nursing care practices

for the health and well being of people

To help people in facing illness or death in

culturally meaningful ways

Education

The addition of culture and relative

care in the nursing curriculum began

in 1966 at the University of Colorado,

where Leininger was a professor of

Nursing and Anthropology.

Nowadays, with the sensitive public

awareness of healthcare costs, different

cultures and human rights, there is a

superior demand for the transcultural

people who are trained to protect the

quality of care and to prevent improper

care.

Since 1980, there has been a growing number of nursing curriculums emphasizing transcultural nursing of human care.

One of the first programs to focus on care was the Cuestra College in California in the 1970’s were an undergraduate nursing program was developed with care as the central curriculum theme.

Research

A lot of nurses today are using Leininger

Culture Theory culture worldwide.

This theory is the only one in nursing

focused on culture and care with a

research technique called ethnonursing to

examine this theory.

Ethnonursing

A research method for describing,

documenting and explaning nursing

care phenomena by the study of the

beliefs, values and practices

concerning nursing care that belongs

to a specific culture.

Finances to sustain transcultural nursing

are not enough.

Despite of inadequate funds, reseachers of

transcultural nursing are furthering their

research.

Simplicity

Wide in scope

Comprehensive in nature

Applicable worldwide

Generality

Does not demonstrate its criterion of

generality

Qualitatively-oriented theory

Broad, comprehensive and worldwide

in scope

Empirical Precision

Researchable, qualitative research has

been the primary paradigm to discover

largely unknown phenomena of care and

health in diverse culture.

How well the evidence support the theory

is indicative of empirical adequacy.

Other scientist should be able to evaluate

and verify results by themselves.

Derivable Consequences

Has important outcomes for nursing,

culture specific care is necessary and

essential new goal in nursing, useful and

applicable to nursing practice, education

and research.

Theories should reveal what knowledge

nurses must and should spend time

pursuing.

Madeleine LeiningerThe pioneer of Transcultural

Nursing (1925-2012)

Every nurse should be aware of the

cultural needs of the patients.

Members:

Camacho, B.

Cerdena, A.

Cleofe, A.

Corpuz, F.

Esmaya, J.

Florencio, R.

Guache, S.

Perez, M.