1. Ernestine Wiedenbach The Helping Art of Clinical Nursing
Teresa Kabo
Tracey Mays
JMU, Fall 2015

2. In the Beginning Wiedenbach migrated from Germany at age 9
She attended Wellesley college, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1922
She was expelled from nursing school after filing a complaint regarding the preparedness of students being sent out to the medical floor
Continued her education at Johns Hopkins and graduated in 1925
Became a nursing supervisor upon graduation at Johns Hopkins and later at Bellevue Hospital
Masters Degree from Columbia in 1934
1929 began working for the Association for Improving Conditions of the Poor (AICP)
In 1930s helped develop the Nursing Bureau of Manhattan and the Bronx
Participated in writing for the American Nursing Association Bulletin and participated in radio broadcasts and conferences
Entered midwifery school (at the age of 45!)
Nickel, S., Gesse, T., & MacLaren, A. (1992). Ernestine Wiedenbach: her professional legacy. Journal of Midwifery, 37(3), p.

3. Ernestine the Midwife
Accepted a two year fellowship to educate women about childbirth
Sponsored by the Maternity Center Association (MCA) and Yale
The classes/project was geared toward educating clients and staff about the effects of relaxation in childbirth
The results demonstrated that education regarding childbirth is necessary and improves outcomes and contributed to the development of midwifery and advanced maternity nursing education programs
1952 Ernestine became an instructor at Yale
In 1956 she established the graduate program in maternal-newborn health nursing
Authored Family Centered Maternity Nursing in 1958
In writing this textbook her prescriptive theory was developed (in hindsight!)
Nickel, S., Gesse, T., & MacLaren, A. (1992). Ernestine Wiedenbach: her professional legacy. Journal of Midwifery, 37(3), p.

4. Wiedenbach’s Personal Philosophy
Nickel, S., Gesse, T., & MacLaren, A. (1992). Ernestine Wiedenbach: her professional legacy. Journal of Midwifery, 37(3), p.

5. Nickel, S. , Gesse, T. , & MacLaren, A. (1992)
Nickel, S., Gesse, T., & MacLaren, A. (1992). Ernestine Wiedenbach: her professional legacy. Journal of Midwifery, 37(3), p.

6. The Helping Art of Clinical Nursing
“Wiedenbach believed that there were 4 main elements to clinical nursing” (Cardinal Stritch University, 2015).
The 4 main elements to clinical nursing were
1) A Philosophy
2) A Purpose
3) A Practice
4) An Art
Cardinal Stritch University. (2015, October 17). Library. Retrieved from Cardinal Stritch University:

7. Wiedenbach’s Theory Wiedenbach’s theory was a prescriptive one.
“Prescriptive (encouraged) and proscriptive (prohibited) beliefs are those in which certain actions are judged to be desirable or undesirable” (Black, 2014).
The prescriptive theory is made up of three components:
1) The Nurses Central Purpose
2) The Prescription
3) The Realities
Black, B. P. (2014). Professional nursing: Concepts & Challenges (7 ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Saunders.
Wiedenbach, E. (1970). Nurses' wisdom in nursing theory. American Journal of Nursing, 70(5),

8. Elements of Wiedenbach’s Theory
A central purpose- the nurses reason for being
“The nurse’s central purpose in nursing defines the quality of health she desires to effect or sustain in her patient and specifies what she recognizes to be her special responsibility in caring for him” (Wiedenbach, 1970).
A prescription- the appropriate action to accomplish the mission
Prescription specifies the nature and action that fulfills the nurse’s central purpose (Wiedenbach, 1970).
The realities- the challenges to the nurses’ ingenuity and creativity to fulfill the purpose through nursing practice
“The realities in nursing practice consist of all factors-physical, physiological, psychological, emotional, and spiritual-that are at play in a situation in which nursing action occurs at any given moment” (Wiedenbach, 1970).
Three attributes the nurse must “possess to be effective in practice” include: knowledge, judgment, and skill.
Nickel, S., Gesse, T., & MacLaren, A. (1992). Ernestine Wiedenbach: her professional legacy. Journal of Midwifery, 37(3), p.
Wiedenbach, E. (1970). Nurses' wisdom in nursing theory. American Journal of Nursing, 70(5),

9. The Helping Art of Clinical Nursing
“The practice of identifying a patient's need for help through the observation of presenting behavior and symptoms, exploration of the meaning of those symptoms, determination of the cause of discomfort, the determination of the patient's ability to resolve the patient's discomfort, or determining if the patient has a need of help from the nurse or another health care professional.”

10. References
Black, B. P. (2014). Professional nursing: Concepts & Challenges (7 ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Saunders.
Cardinal Stritch University. (2015, October 17). Library. Retrieved from Cardinal Stritch University:
Wiedenbach, E. (1970). Nurses' wisdom in nursing theory. American Journal of Nursing, 70(5),
Nickel, S., Gesse, T., & MacLaren, A. (1992). Ernestine Wiedenbach: her professional legacy. Journal of Midwifery, 37(3), p.