helped initiate and direct the first doctoral pro-
grams in nursing. She facilitated the development
of master degree programs in nursing at American
and overseas institutions. Dr. Leininger is a fellow
and distinguished living legend of the American
Academy of Nursing. She is professor emeritus of
the College of Nursing at Wayne State University
and is adjunct professor at the University of
Nebraska, College of Nursing.
Dr. Leininger is the author and/or editor of 30
books, has published over 250 articles, and has
given more than 1,200 public lectures throughout
the United States and abroad. Some of her well-
known books include Basic Psychiatric Concepts in
Nursing(Leininger & Hofling, 1960);Caring: An
Essential Human Need(1981);Care: The Essence of
Nursing and Health(1984);Care: Discovery and
Uses in Clinical and Community Nursing(1988);
Care: Ethical and Moral Dimensions of Care
(1990d); and Culture Care Diversity and Universal-
ity: A Theory of Nursing(1991). Some of her books
were the first in that area of nursing to be pub-
lished.Nursing and Anthropology: Two Worlds to
Blend(1970) was the first book to bring together
nursing and anthropology.Transcultural Nursing:
Concepts, Theories, and Practices(1978) was the first
book on transcultural nursing. The Qualitative
Research Methods in Nursing(1985) was the first
qualitative research methods book in nursing.
Her published books and articles cover five
decades of cumulative transcultural nursing and
human care with many cultures throughout the
world. In 1989, Dr. Leininger initiated the Journal of
Transcultural Nursing, which was the first transcul-
tural nursing journal in the world.
Dr. Leininger conducted the first field study of
the Gadsup of the Eastern Highlands of New
Guinea in the early 1960s, and since then has stud-
ied approximately 25 Western and non-Western
cultures. Dr. Leininger led nurses to use qualitative
ethnonursing research methods and developed the
first nursing research method called ethnonursing.
She also provided new ways to provide culturally
competent health care and coined the phrase “cul-
turally congruent care” in the 1960s. In 1987, she
initiated the idea of worldwide certification of
nurses prepared in transcultural nursing in order to
protect and respect the cultural needs and lifeways
of people of diverse cultures.
As a pioneering nurse educator, leader, theorist,
and administrator, Dr. Leininger has been a risk
taker, futurist, and innovator. She has never been
afraid to bring forth new directions and practical
issues in education and service. Her persistent lead-
ership has made transcultural nursing and human
care central to nursing and respected as formal
areas of study and practice. She has been called the
“Margaret Mead of the health field” and the “New
Nightingale” by colleagues and students. Dr.
Leininger’s genuine interest and enthusiasm for
whatever she pursues is contagious, inspiring, and
challenging.Introducing the Theory
One of the most significant and unique contribu-
tions of Dr. Leininger was the development of her
Culture Care Diversity and Universality Theory.
She introduced this theory in the early 1960s to
provide culturally congruent and competent care
(Leininger, 1991a, 1995). She believed that tran-
scultural nursing care could provide meaningful
and therapeutic health and healing outcomes.
As she developed the theory, she identified trans-
cultural nursing concepts, principles, theories, and
research-based knowledge to guide, challenge, and
explain nursing practices. This was a significant
and new contribution to nursing and has been an
important means to open the door to advance new
scientific and humanistic dimensions of caring for
people of diverse and similar cultures. The use of
this culture care theory has greatly expanded nurs-
ings’ knowledge base about people of diverse
cultures in the world.
The Theory of Culture Care Diversity and
Universality was developed in order to establish
a substansive knowledge base to guide nurses
in discovery and use of the knowledge in transcul-
tural nursing practices. It was at this time that
Dr. Leininger envisioned that nurses would need
transcultural knowledge and practices to func-
tion with people of diverse cultures worldwide
(Leininger, 1970, 1978). This was the post–World
War II period, when many new immigrants and
refugees were coming to America, and the world
was becoming more multicultural. Leininger heldCaring for people of many different
cultures was a critical and esssential
need, yet nurses and other health pro-
fessionals were not prepared to meet
this global challenge.310 SECTION III Nursing Theory in Nursing Practice, Education, Research, and Administration