Leiningers’ Theory - Transcultural

Leininger’s theory is to provide care measures that are in harmony with an

individual or group’s cultural beliefs, practices, and values. In the 1960’s she

coined the term culturally congruent care, which is the primary goal of transcultural

nursing practice. Culturally congruent care is possible when the following

occurs within the nurse-client relationship (Leininger, 1981):

Together the nurse and the client creatively design a new or different

care lifestyle for the health or well-being of the client. This mode requires

the use of both generic and professional knowledge and ways to

fit such diverse ideas into nursing care actions and goals. Care knowledge

and skill are often repatterned for the best interest of the

clients…Thus all care modalities require coparticipation of the nurse and clients

(consumers) working together to identify, plan, implement, and evaluate each

caring mode for culturally congruent nursing care. These modes can stimulate

nurses to design nursing actions and decisions using new knowledge and culturally

based ways to provide meaningful and satisfying wholistic care to individuals,

groups or institutions (Leininger, 1991, p. 44).

Leininger developed new terms for the basic tenets of her theory. These

definitions and the tenets are important to understand. Understanding such

key terms is crucial to understanding the theory. Below is a basic summary of

the tenets that are essential to understand with Leininger’s theory (summarized

from Leininger, 2001, pp. 46–47):

• Care is to assist others with real or anticipated needs in an effort to

improve a human condition of concern or to face death.

• Caring is an action or activity directed towards providing care.

• Culture refers to learned, shared, and transmitted values, beliefs,

norms, and lifeways of a specific individual or group that guide their

thinking, decisions, actions, and patterned ways of living.

• Cultural care refers to multiple aspects of culture that influence and enable

a person or group to improve their human condition or to deal

with illness or death.

• Cultural care diversity refers to the differences in meanings, values, or acceptable

modes of care within or between different groups of people.

• Cultural care