Legendary UNMC nurse Dr. Madeleine Leininger dies at 87

Madeleine Leininger, Ph.D., an adjunct professor in the UNMC College of Nursing who was recognized as the founder of transcultural nursing, died in Omaha on Friday from lung failure. She was 87.

Transcultural nursing is the study and practice of providing culturally compatible care for people of diverse cultures.









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Madeleine Leininger, Ph.D.
Dr. Leininger long held the view that in order to make health care effective for people of diverse cultures, health professionals needed to establish educational programs and culturally competent care practices.

“She was a nursing theorist who made nursing very personal,” said Mary McNamee, Ph.D., assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs and former assistant dean for administration for the UNMC College of Nursing. “She was passionate in what she did and a very forward-thinking leader who was in tune with the times. She moved nursing forward.”

Dr. Leininger and her colleagues studied about 100 cultures worldwide and have established transcultural nursing courses worldwide.

A vigil service for Dr. Leininger will be held at 7 p.m. today at Heafey-Heafey-Hoffmann Dworak-Cutler, West Center Chapel, 78th and W. Center Road. Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, 15353 Pacific St., and on Friday at 11 a.m. at St. Mary Catholic Church in Sutton.