Mid-Range Nursing Theory Analysis

Nursing theories are a very important part of nursing. It provides a foundations for nursing practice and help generate more knowledge throughout the healthcare field. Theories indicate which route nursing should advance in the future. Theories are essential because it helps us decide what we know and what we need to know (University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, 2015).The purpose of this paper is to describe, evaluate and discuss application of a nursing mid-range theory and how it applies to my practice setting. The theorist promote that cultural care delivers the largest and most significant means to study, explain, and predict nursing awareness and concomitant nursing care practice. The overall goal of the theory

is to deliver cultural congruent nursing care practices.
Madeleine Leininger Background
The middle-range that I have decided to discuss is the Culture Care theory created by Madeleine Leininger. She started her theory in the 1950’s by being amused with anthropology and finding concepts that she thought were essential to nursing. Her focus and determination allowed her to become the first professional nurse to receive her PhD in social and cultural anthropology. Culture Care Diversity and Universality came after she decided to combine the two fields of anthropology and nursing. As the founder of transcultural nursing she advanced the theory through research, education and practice (Wayne, 2014).
Madeleine Leininger received her nursing diploma from St. Anthony’s School of Nursing in Denver, Colorado she was born in Sutton, Nebraska in 1948. Early in her career as a nurse, Leininger realized the value of the concept “caring” in nursing. (Alligood, 2012). Madeleine Leininger examined and focused on comparative cultural Care values, beliefs, and practices of individuals or groups of similar or different cultures with the goal of providing culture-specific and universal nursing care practices in promoting health or well-being or to help people to face unfavorable human conditions, illness, or death in culturally meaningful ways (Nursing theories, 2012). Leininger worked in a child guidance home and experienced cultural shock on several occasions and recognized the persistent behavioral patterns in several children seemed to have a cultural biases. Leininger determined that a lack of cultural and care understanding was the missing link to nurses understanding of the many variations required in patient care to support compliance, healing, and wellness (Alligood, 2012).This was one of her experiences that impacted the development of the theory.
Patients that experience nursing care that does not emphasize the importance of their culture background may cause a delay in their healing process. The patient may appear stressed, non-compliant or even have cultural conflict. Nurses that are knowledgeable and understand the patient’s values and incorporate the patient’s cultural beliefs in patient care will have a huge effect in health care practices for clients with different backgrounds. Participation in different cultural backgrounds requires an awareness of transcultural nursing models and values, along with a knowledge about current research findings. The patients’ values and beliefs must be acknowledged in order for culturally competent nursing to be beneficial to their care. According to the American Nursing Association when the values and beliefs of patients are thoughtfully included into nursing care it will allow the patient to heal in a holistic way (American Nurses Association, 2011). Following these practices will allow the nurse to care for their patients in a more culturally competent way. Nurses are constantly faced with culturally diverse patients because of the large amount of immigrants migrating to the United States. Committing to education and practicing culturally competent care gives the unlimited fulfilment and provide holistic supportive care to all patients (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2008).
The major problem that are addressed by the theory is due to the repeated worries and concerns related to the encountered experiences in the care when treating culturally diverse patients. Transcultural care are being incorporated in health care on an everyday basis. Nursing is a career that is constantly changing and continues to become more and more diverse every day. Culture guides a person’s thinking of what they believe to be correct practices, cultural backgrounds may impact views on health and well-being (Wayne, 2014).Those beliefs might have an effect on their perceptions on healthcare and healthcare outcomes.
Theory Description
I believe that the theorist is using deductive reasoning.

Deductive reasoning is a logical process in which a conclusion is based on the concordance of multiple premises that are generally assumed to be true (Bradford, 2015). The theory has conclusions based off the research the theorist has provided about the culture care theory. The theorist feels if we apply her foundation to nursing it will create a better healing environment for diverse patients. It focus on the course of becoming culturally competent and not being culturally competent and the effect it has on patients. The model of cultural competence looks at cultural awareness, cultural understanding, cultural skills, cultural experiences and cultural desire. Cultural awareness is defined as a technique of directing a self-analysis of someone’s own biases to other cultures and the detailed examination of a person’s cultural and professional background. Cultural awareness furthermore includes being conscious of the presence of racism and other disturbances in healthcare delivery (Jefferys,

2008).
Care and culture are two major concepts of the Madeleine Lininger theory.

Leininger has defined care as having assistive, supportive, and enabling experiences or ideas towards others (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2008). A person actions shows some of their compassion in ways they care for patients. Care is a major component of the theory and it includes both professional and folk care which plays an essential role in nursing care. The addition to nursing care has influenced the health and wellbeing of different cultures. Culture is the other major to the Culture Care Theory. The culture of the patient is equally as important as the care component of the theory. Leininger has defined culture as “the learned, shared, and transmitted values, beliefs, norms, and lifeways of a particular culture that guides thinking, decisions, and actions in patterned ways and often interchangeable” ( Alligood, 2011). Therefore acknowledging the patients culture beliefs and including it in the care of the patient are an important component for healing. Culture can be seen as an outline for managing human actions and decisions and contains material and nonmaterial features of any group or individual.

The model can be observed as a limitation and strength. Strength in that it highlights the significance of the presence of cultural concepts and anthropology in nursing knowledge and practice. The other side can lead to misconception or rejection. Leiniger developed the theory to

exhibit the interrelationships of many perceptions in the Culture Care Theory (Jefferys, 2008). There are several concepts needed in order to incorporate the proper patient values and be able to apply it to practices in several different settings.
Evaluation
Diverse cultures look at nursing care practices in different ways, but there are some similarities between all the cultures in the world. Many beliefs and values are embedded in the person and the tent to be bias towards other cultures. Its assumed that the care of humans are universal across diverse patients, caring can be implemented through different actions, expressions, actions, lifestyles, patterns and meanings (National Association of Social Workers, 2015). Care is distinct and a significant focus in nursing, even though healing and curing cannot arise successfully without care, care may transpire without cure. Transcultural nursing has a vital purpose to assist people in all regions of the world. Culturally focused nursing care is valuable and adds to the health of the person, whether it’s groups, families, institutions, communities, or an individual as they perform within the setting and environment (Wayne, 2014).