Early in her career as a nurse, Leininger recognized the importance of the
concept of “caring” in nursing. Frequent statements of appreciation from patients
for care received prompted Leininger to focus on “care” as being a central
component of nursing. During the 1950s, while working in a child guidance
home, Leininger experienced what she describes as a cultural shock when
she realized that recurrent behavioral patterns in children appeared to have
a cultural basis. Leininger identified a lack of cultural and care knowledge as
the missing link to nursing’s understanding of the many variations required in
patient care to support compliance, healing, and wellness (George, 2002).
These insights were the beginnings (in the 1950s) of a new construct and phenomenon
related to nursing care called transcultural nursing.
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