Ernestine Wiedenbach’s Theory- CritiqueStudent’s NameInstitutionErnestine Wiedenbach’s Theory was founded on a situation producing a theory which is a direct action toward an explicit goal. The approach is based on three factors which include; nurses’ philosophy for care, essentials of nursing, and central purpose. Wiedenbach thought that there are four essentials of her concept which include; the art, a philosophy, a purpose, and a practice. According to Wiedenbach, there is a need to respect patients because of their dignity, worth, autonomy, and being human. He also advocates for mutual agreement on action taken on a person. Ernestine Wiedenbach’s model of treatment explains a patient as a person who needs and receive assistance from the healthcare system. The help can be care, teaching, or even advice from the nursing professionals (Smith & Parker, 2015).
According to Wiedenbach, the ethics in the nursing career can be represented by the ability of a nurse to make sound decisions and being able to differentiate between facts and assumptions relating to the patient’s suffering. The purpose of Wiedenbach’s concept is to offer an agenda in which nurses provide care to patients based on the nurses’ personal philosophical beliefs. The attention given to the patients is deliberate and is offered after the nurse realizes that there is a need to help the patient. However, the nurse needs to validate the care given to a patient based on outcomes expected. The results can also be learned from other nurses’ care provided and results that were witnessed (Hutchinson et al, 2016). This helps the nurses to adjust or follow the same route. The four critical elements in this theory which include; a philosophy, a drive, a practice, and the art are all applicable in the nursing field. The philosophy element relates to nurses’ attitudes and belief about life. This depends on how a nurse sees the reality in reference to a human being’s life.
Wiedenbach said that there are three essential components related to nursing, namely; respect to life, admiration for the dignity, sovereignty, and determination to act on professionally held beliefs. Based on the purpose element, nurses want to achieve what they do, and all activities are directed in the direction of the total good of the patient. Based on practice, nurses observe their activities that are affected by philosophies and feelings that affect the urge to meet with patients.
Finally, the art element in the nursing field relates to understanding patients’ desires and worries (Peart & MacKinnon, 2018). Similarly, the art element can be relatable enhancing patient’s ability and improving patient’s conditions using special skills possessed by nurses. The reason why I chose this theory is that there has been a growth in the nursing industry over the years and thus an important to criticize the five major focal points in this model. In order to come up with efficient nursing care, mind, and body are the two main focus to a nurse. People fall sick and feel desperate about their deplorable conditions and thus need both psychosocial and spiritual care. The plan for this model is to improve the care given in nursing centers.
The improvement cannot be achieved without combining the five critical reflections, as stated by Chinn and Kramer. The two authors were worried that there so many nurses that lack one or more elements in their model. The authors have insisted on human needs as the main focus in the nursing practice. The concept of spirituality has been gaining attention over the last few years (Chinn & Kramer, 2015). Using Chinn and Kramer’s method of creating a conceptual meaning, we can review nursing research based on clarity, simplicity, generalization, accessibility, and importance. ClarityThe model has used simple and straightforward language that people can understand. The words used are self-explanatory, and also, the concepts explained are precise. The philosophy can be understood, and the ideas are reliably conceptualized.
Simplicity According to Chinn and Kramer (2015), simplicity means a minimal number of components within each expressive category. The theory is simple and easy to understand. It is also easy to apply to any nursing practice. However, the description of the nursing process in this theory bases interventions off individualized perceptions. GeneralizationOn generalization, the theory has some issues that concern patients. For example, the author describes patients as entities who struggle for self-reliance and make the best of their capabilities. By defining the patients, she set a limit to her theory’s use when caring for noncompliant patients. This happens when an intubated patient has no ability to care for themselves. AccessibilityThis theory can easily be accessed because of its applicability in the nursing field to define phenomenal relationships. One of the likable things about it is that it uses a process for patient assessment that was designed many years ago by Wiendenbach.
Importance
This theory is critical to treatment care because the patient’s standpoint is vital in providing individualized care. The theory is applied in many research publications, especially in infant nursing and care. In a hospital setting, the argument is used in assessing patients in relation to personal nursing philosophy. It is also used in the evaluation and planning care for patients with such a viewpoint matching the theory (Mill et al, 2016). Finally, it can be used in validation that the care given to patients is appropriate and consistent with the doctor’s intentions. Assumptions of the theoryThe assumptions depicted in this theory makes it confusing. First, there is confusion about the use of principles, philosophy, and suggestions. By reading the author’s theory, it is difficult to tell his meaning and definition related to the assumptions.
Example:
There is an assumption that every person referred in this theory is a unique character that influences his or her ability to care for one’s self. There is another assumption regarding basic philosophies of life and the nursing field, importance of dignity, and response to people’s beliefs (McEwen & Wills, 2017). Wiedenbach assumes that everybody is fighting for independence so that he or she can utilize the abilities to take care of the healthcare needs.
Testability of the Theory
This theory contains a limited number of variables and scope. However, it has sufficient generality to be useful in clinical research. For example, the argument is used by nurses in observation, understanding the needs of the patient, identifying the cause of the discomfort, and determining if patients can require help (Mill et al, 2016). Similarly, a lot of tests have been run in the laboratories using this theory to come up with clinical solutions.ConclusionGenerally, nursing consists of identifying a patient’s need for help. Nursing is a practice in which nurses identify an essential of patient’s needs for help through observation of an individual’s actions and symptoms. The nurses are responsible for discovering the meaning of symptoms seen in a patient and determine the causes of the illnesses.
After that, they can resolve the discomposure. Wiedenbach’s theory is easy to understand and also easy to apply. The philosophy is too simple, easily accessible, and importance. However, this theory has a problem of generalization because it assumes a lot of issues concerning patients which is not always true. Ernestine Wiedenbach has contributed a lot in the nursing field by giving definitions to nursing terms and concepts.
References
- Peart, J., & MacKinnon, K. (2018).
- Cultivating Praxis Through Chinn and Kramer’s Emancipatory Knowing. Advances in Nursing Science, 41(4), 351-358.Chinn, P., & Kramer, M. (2015).
- Knowledge development in nursing theory and practice.McEwen, M., & Wills, E. M. (2017).
- Theoretical basis for nursing. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.Smith, M. C., & Parker, M. E. (2015).
- Nursing theories and nursing practice. FA Davis.Mill, J. E., Allen, M. N., & Morrow, R. A. (2016).
- Critical theory: Critical methodology to disciplinary foundations in nursing. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research Archive, 33(2).Hutchinson, M., Higson, M., Cleary, M., & Jackson, D. (2016).
- Nursing expertise: a course of ambiguity and evolution in a concept. Nursing inquiry, 23(4), 290-304.