Madeline Leininger

Madeline Leininger is a nursing theorist who developed the Cultural care diversity and Universality nursing theory. She originally recognized the need for care as a young graduate nurse. She received frequent statements of gratitude from patients for care received which encouraged Leininger to focus on care as being a central component of nursing.
Madeline identified the need for cultural care in the 1950s when she was working with children with mental health issues. Leininger states, “I experienced cultural shock and I felt helpless to assist children who so clearly expressed different cultural patterns and ways they wanted care (Leininger, pg 14).” At this time Leininger was competent in psychotherapy and mental health nursing, however,
Anthony’s School of Nursing in Denver, Colorado in 1948. She earned her Bachelors from St. Scholastica in Atchison, Kansas, and in 1954 earned a masters in psychiatric and mental health nursing from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. After discovering the need for transcultural nursing, she went on to earn her PhD for cultural, social and physical anthropology. Madeline Leininger describes anthropology as a missing component from nursing schools.
The theory was conceptualized “within the qualitative discovery paradigm with largely inductive emic (people-centered) views and not from the researcher’s a priori hypotheses (Leininger, pg 25).” At this time of development the emic focus was new to nursing. Leininger states that her theory does not fit the typical conceptualization, developmental processes, criteria rules and performance models to be consider a sound nursing theory.
Her concept was focused on care unlike the traditional metaparadigm of theories; nursing, person, health and environment, Leininger focused on human caring and the relationship of culture with caring in