Universality Theory

Overview I practice as a discharge coordinator employed by Children’s Mercy Hospital and Clinics (CMH). I work with CMH pediatricians at Truman Medical Center-Hospital Hill (TMC-HH) on the Labor Delivery Recovery Post-Partum Unit (LDRP) making sure the newborns have medically necessary appointments scheduled before they are discharged home. The patient population at TMC-HH is culturally diverse socioeconomically, religiously, educationally, lingually, medically, mentally, and sexually. Madeleine Leininger’s Culture Care Diversity and Universality Theory focuses on ways to provide culturally congruent care to people and this is why I chose this theory as being most applicable to my practice setting. “Nursing care driven by Leininger’s theory

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Practicing Cultural Care There are many challenges working in the practice setting that I do. Difficulties can arise when the client’s cultural values are different or unknown from the healthcare provider (Kearney-Nunnery, 2012, p. 77). On a daily basis, I may talk to parents that speak Arabic, Somali, Spanish, Haitian Creole, or Burmese in addition to English. My patients have many difficulties in their lives on a daily basis and it is my job to provide nursing care that will assist, support, facilitate, and enable them to provide the care necessary for their newborn. “Providing culturally competent care does not imply that the nurse should change their beliefs but rather merge 2 different perspectives for the benefit of optimum patient outcomes” (Darnell, L., Hickson, S., 2015). According to Leininger’s theory, the nurse should learn from and maintain respect for the client by asking open-ended questions and maintaining the role of an active listener, learner, and reflector (Kearney-Nunnery, 2012, p. 53). I talk to the parents, with an