CULTURE CARE THEORY, RESEARCH, AND PRACTICE

Today nurses are facing a world in which they are almost forced to use transculturally-based nursing theories and practices in order to care for people of diverse cultures. The author, who in the mid-'50s pione ered the development of the first transcultural nursing theory with a care focus, discusses the relevance, assumptions, and predictions of t he culture care theory along with the ethnonursing research method. Th e author contends that transcultural nursing findings are gradually tr ansforming nursing practice and are providing a new paradigm shift fro m traditional medical and unicultural practice to multiculturally cong ruent and specific care modalities. A few research findings are presen ted to show the importance of being attentive to cultural care diversi ties and universalities as the major tenets of the theory. In addition , some major contributions of the theory are cited along with major ch allenges for the immediate future.