INTRODUCTION

TO TRANSCULTURAL
NURSING

JONAH LYDIA G. LANGGA, RN, MN, DPA, FANSAP

 HISTORY OF
TRANSCULTURAL
NURSING
In 1950’s, Madeleine M. Leininger, known
as the Founder of Transcultural Nursing,
noted cultural differences between
patients and nurses while working with
emotionally disturbed children.

She recognized that health and illness

states are strongly influenced by culture
and formulated the theory.
The Transcultural Nursing Society, founded in
1974, is promoting interest in transcultural
concepts and the education of transcultural nurses
at the graduate level (Giger & Davidhizar, 2002;
Wenger, 1989).

Since its inception, the society has promoted such

efforts at annual transcultural nursing conferences
in different worldwide locations. The society also
implemented the first certification plan in
transcultural nursing.
 NEED FOR
TRANSCULTURAL
NURSING
KNOWLEDGE
It is observed that the United States is rapidly
becoming a multicultural, pluralistic society. In 2010,
72.4% of the population in the United States was White
of European descent; 14% African – American; 17.3%
Hispanic – American; 4.8% Asian American; and 0.9%
American Indian (US Department of Commerce, Bureau
of Census, 2010 Census Briefs, 2011).

It is projected that in 2020, only 53% will be White of

European descendant. By end of 2021, the number of
Asian Americans and Hispanic – Americans will triple,
and African – Americans will double.
In light of these statistical data, it is imperative
that the nursing workforce rapidly adapt itself to a
changing heterogeneous society.

Providing culturally appropriate and thus

competent care in the twenty-first century will be
a complex and difficult task for many nurses.

But when nurses consider race, ethnicity, culture

and culture heritage, they then become more
sensitive to clients.
 CULTURAL
ASSESSMENT
According to Affonso (1979), cultural
assessment can give meaning to
behaviors that might otherwise be
judged negatively. If cultural behaviors
are not appropriately identified, their
significance will be confusing to the
nurse.
 USING OF NON – NURSING MODELS
 Outline of Cultural Materials by Murdock, et al. (2004) – One of the
most comprehensive tool used for nursing cultural assessment;
however, this tool was developed primarily for anthropologists who
were concerned with ethnographic descriptions of cultural groups.
Thus, this tool does not provide for systematic use of the nursing
process.

Brownlee’s (1978) Community, Culture, and Care: A Cross-Cultural

Guide for Health Workers – Devoted to the process of practical
assessment of a community, with specific attention given to health
areas. Brownlee’s work deals with three aspects of assessment: what
to find out, why is it important, and how to do it.
 USING OF NURSING SPECIFIC MODELS
 Transcultural Nursing is defined by Leininger (1991; Leininger &
McFarland, 2006) as a “humanistic and scientific area of formal study
and practice 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.”

 Leininger’s Sunrise Model (1997) symbolizes the rising of the sun

(care). The model depicts a full sun with four levels of foci, and has
components on social structure and worldview factors that influence
care and health through language and environment.
 DEFINITION OF
TRANSCULTURAL
NURSING
TRANSCULTURAL NURSING is defined as a
learned subfield or branch of nursing which
focuses upon the comparative study and analysis
of cultures with respect to nursing and health-
illness caring practices, beliefs, and values with
the goal to provide meaningful and efficacious
nursing care services to people according to
their cultural values and health-illness context.
In the context of Giger and Davidhizar’s
Transcultural Assessment Mode (1990,
2002), transcultural nursing is viewed
as a culturally competent practice field
that is client centered and research
focused.
Although transcultural nursing is
viewed as client centered, it is
important for nurses to remember that
culture can and does influence how
clients are viewed and the care that is
rendered.
Every individual is culturally unique, and
nurses are no exception to this premise.
Nonetheless, nurse must use caution to
avoid projecting on the client their own
cultural uniqueness and worldviews if
culturally appropriate care is to be provided.

Nurses must carefully discern personal

cultural beliefs and values to separate them
from the client’s beliefs and values.
According to Stokes (1991), nursing as
a profession is not “culturally free” but
rather is “culturally determine.” Nurses
must recognize and understand this
fact to avoid becoming grossly
ethnocentric.
Because there is a contingent relationship
between cultural determination and the
delivery of culturally sensitive care, the
transcultural nurse must be guided by
acquired knowledge in the assessment,
diagnosis, planning, implementation and
evaluation of the client’s needs based on
culturally relevant information.
Although transcultural nursing is becoming a
highly specialized field of specially educated
individuals, every nurse, regardless of academic
or experiential background, must use
transcultural knowledge to facilitate culturally
appropriate care.

Every nurse must make every effort to deliver

culturally sensitive care that is free of inherent
biases based on gender, race or religion.
Thank you
for
listening!!!