Under the influence of the process of globalization in the world many disciplines and fields started to change their attitude towards cultural diversity. Nursing is not an exception. Over the last several decades this field has undergone the influences of globalization and the specialists started to research and explore opportunities to make their work more effective. They were looking for patters and collecting data in order to optimize the processes happening within the field. As a result, Madeleine Leininger formed a new theory of nursing that took into consideration multiple factors compiling diversity and universality.
Madeleine Leininger was a specialist in the sphere of nursing. Professor Leininger’s work was directed at forming the theory of transcultural nursing and exploring the concept of care. The theory of culture care was first published in 1961. It made a massive contribution to the development of nursing in the modern world and the whole attitude towards care and treatment. Leininger’s study was focused on the research of differences and similarities among the social and cultural groups of people in order to find the most suitable ways of cultural caring that would be perfect for any types of patients.
Leininger viewed the concept of culture as a set of specific beliefs and values. According to the theory of culture care, the understanding of states of wellness and illness may vary for different cultures due to their perceptions. Culture is a very important aspect of nursing because it penetrates all spheres of a person’s life. The theory forms three main aspects that should be applied to the evaluation of the nurse’s professional performance. These aspects are maintenance and presentation, re-patterning and restructuring, negotiation or accommodation.
Another important concept of Leininger’s theory of culture care is flexibility of the care giver. It is very important that the provider of medical care adjusts their approaches and policies in order to maintain good quality care for a wide range of patients. In the modern world this tendency has become very popular. Contemporary health care policies are various and specific, they are designed to address the needs and issues of special ethnic and social groups. A lot of research is done in order to improve this concept of the culture care theory.
The concept of cultural behavior is tightly connected to the various issues typical for certain cultural groups. This is why patients that share ethnicity may also have similar health problems. As we can see, this concept is related to the previous one. The policies addressing health issues explore the types of cultural behavior that may be the potential causes of the most typical health problems of the cultural group.
Another very important aspect of culture care is religious beliefs and health concepts within a cultural group. These factors may result in the rejection of treatment. For example, there is a practice of vaccination exemptions based on religious beliefs. This practice has the potential to create danger if the transmission of contagious diseases within the society of the whole diverse country.
In the contemporary world medical workers and researchers are looking for ways to address all cultural and ethnic groups within each society in order to improve their health literacy and provide them with the necessary information about the potential dangers and risks they may be facing within their cultural group or the society in general.