The theory was built on the belief that everyone, regardless of their culture, has the ability to guide healthcare professionals to receive the care they need and require. Leininger constructed the theory to assist in the discovering of differences and similarities between cultures. For this reason, Leininger also conceived three modes to guide nursing care decisions and actions in patient care. The three modes are: culture care preservation, culture care accommodation, and culture care restructuring. The purpose of Leininger’s Culture Care Theory of Diversity and Universality, was to improve and provide culturally congruent care to all human being so that they can continue to maintain and/or regain their health and well-being (Alligood, 2014; Sitzman & Eichelberger, …show more content…
First of all, Leininger’s theory aims to incorporate patients’ personal needs and beliefs into patient care to successfully optimized patient outcomes (Alligood, 2015). Additionally, Leininger believed that caring is the core of nursing and the foundation for which nursing was built. As such, caring is rooted in human behavior and an essential and necessary element for survival (Alligood, 2015; Sitzman & Eichelberger, 2015). Within the nursing profession specifically, caring promote healing and well-being of patients, in addition to helping them face death. Patient care varies from patient to patient due to not just their illness, but also their cultural beliefs and values. To provide adequate and effective care, nurses need to take a wholistic approach to patient care. Therefore, patient care need to me individualized to fulfill the personal needs of each patient. Components to consider during patient care should include: personal beliefs and values, ethnic affiliation, support systems, language, religion, food preferences and prohibition, health and illness beliefs and practices, and socioeconomic status (Rew, 2014). By integrating the theory into practice the nurse is essentially individualizing patient care on a wholistic level to ensure the patient reach optimal health and/or retain their