Transcultural Nursing - A humanistic and scientific area of formal study and practice in nursing which is focused upon differences

and similarities among cultures with respect to human care, health, and illness based upon the people's cultural values, beliefs, and practices, and to use this knowledge to provide cultural specific or culturally congruent nursing care to people ... Leininger Leininger (1991) notes the main goal of transcultural nursing is to provide culturally specific care. But before transcultural nursing can be adequately understood, there must be a basic knowledge of key terminology such as culture, cultural values, culturally diverse nursing care, ethnocentrism, race, and ethnography. Culture refers to norms and practices of a particular group that are learned and shared and guide thinking, decisions, and actions. Cultural values the individual's desirable or preferred way of acting or knowing something that is sustained over a period of time and which governs actions or decisions. Culturally diverse nursing care an optimal mode of health care delivery, refers to the variability of nursing approaches needed to provide culturally appropriate care that incorporates an individuals cultural values, beliefs, and practices including sensitivity to the environment from which the individual comes and to which the individual may ultimately return. (Leininger, 1985) Ethnocentrism the perception that one's own way is best when viewing the world (Geiger & Davidhizar, 1991). Our perspective is the standard by which all other perspectives are measured and held to scrutiny. Ethnic relates to large groups of people classified according to common traits or customs . Race Though many definitions exist, there appears to be no established agreement on any scientific definition of race. What we do find though, is the general belief among the scientific community that race has no biological or natural basis.

Ethnography is the study of a culture. The methodological approach of ethnographic research central to the nurse's ability to develop a heightened awareness of culturally diverse needs of individuals, is to define a field for observation for study of the environment and its people, as well as the reciprocal relationship that exists between the two (Tripp-Reimer & Dougherty, 1985). Case Studies The anecdotes and case reports we use here make many generalizations. They should not be mistaken for stereotypes. A stereotype and a generalization may appear similar, but they function very differently. A danger associated with transcultural nursing theories and models is the assumption that people can be categorized, rather than individualized, by virtue of race, culture, and ethnicity. People can not be put into little culturally specific boxes nor labeled by virtue of culture and race. Do not assume that the criteria for a certain cultural group are true for every patient who belong to that racial, ethnic, or cultural group. The information we present for each cultural group is no more than an overview, the amount of relevant knowledge could fill many books. The issues raised here are those that, we think, have special meaning to the practice of nursing, and health care delivery. Nurses must always be aware of what people may be thinking that may differ from our own thoughts, and that other sources outside the traditional medical community, exist to help patients.