STANDARD I: THEORY
Rationale
Transcultural nursing is built on a body of knowledge
developed through study and research of cultural groups.
Leininger’s (1995, 1998) culture care theory predicts similarities
and differences within and among cultural groups and
frames much of the knowledge gained in the field. Campinha-
Bacote’s (1998) model of cultural competence defines a process
by which nurses can progress in increasing their cross cultural
awareness, knowledge, and skills toward effective
cultural encounters. Therefore, these theories were chosen
for the first proposed transcultural nursing standards as the
foundation for conceptually based practice.
The transcultural nurse generalist is prepared at the undergraduate
level and has very generalized transcultural knowledge
without in-depth knowledge of specific cultures. The
transcultural nurse specialist is prepared at the master’s level
or higher and has in-depth cultural knowledge (Leininger,
1995).