Analysing Ernestine Wiedenbach's Theory

¶ … Walker and Avant method The concept chosen is The Helping Art of Clinical Nursing by Ernestine Wiedenbach. The theory consists of four main elements namely a philosophy, a practice, a purpose, and the art. The main concepts of this theory are identifying a patient's need using observation of the symptoms and behaviors, exploring the meaning of these symptoms together with the patient, determining what is causing discomfort, and establishing the patient's ability to resolve the discomfort. A nurse should be able to identify a patient's need for help.

If the patient's need for helps calls for an intervention, then the nurse should facilitate a plan for medical care (Walker & Avant, 2005). The nurse should also create and implement the nursing care plan based on the wants and needs of the patient. When offering care, the nurse should exercise sound judgment by using practiced, deliberative, and educated symptom recognition. This would ensure that the nurse can offer the best care possible to the patient, and they would not neglect anything.

When providing competent care, the nurse should also incorporate the patient's perception of the situation, which is a vital consideration for the nurse. Understanding the needs of the patient and concerns is vital in order to deliver quality care to the patients. This concept encourages that nurse pay close attention to the needs and desires of the patient, which would be beneficial to the nurse and the patient. The basic nursing purpose is identifying the patient's need for help.

Using interaction and nursing action, a nurse would be able to identify the patient's need, which is the key concept of the Wiedenbach's theory. The behaviors presented by the patient would guide a nurse to establish the best care to offer the patient (Dugger, 2010). Rationale for use of the theory There is little ambiguity in the usage of the theory. It is basic knowledge that a nurse should be able to make observations on the symptoms presented by the patient and their behaviors.

Using such observations the nurse would establish early what might be ailing the patient. The purpose that the nurse wants to accomplish by practicing nursing will determine how he or she accomplishes the goal of helping patients. The nurse must be consistent and deliver the same care to all their patients. The philosophy of the concept is that the attitude a nurse has would have an effect on how they perform their role (Mikkelsen & Frederiksen, 2011).

Having an attitude towards life and reality would guide the nurses thinking in regards to what he or she is doing and would also influence her decisions. Each nurse has their own code of conduct and beliefs that motivate them to act when dealing with a patient. For an effective practice, the nurse would make use of their judgment, skills, and knowledge to treat and diagnose a patient. To offer proper and effective care, the nurse must be able to identify, validate, and administer the correct care to the patient.

Antecedents According to Walker and Avant (2005), antecedents are the events that should take place before the concept occurs. The antecedents of this concept are a patient visiting the hospital or care facility with complications or visible symptoms. The patient should also have the capability to express what they are feeling and willing to speak about their ailment with a nurse. Having the ability to demonstrate the kind of care the patient wants and desires is also an additional antecedent of the concept.

The defining attributes of the theory The heart of analyzing a concept are the defining attributes (Morgan & Yoder, 2012). These attributes are not static, and they will change as time passes. When different people view the theory, they will establish different defining attributes and perspectives. The theory is mainly focused on helping the patients. Help is essential in order to offer proper nursing care. Help includes the invisible act that a nurse performs when rendering care to a patient.

The emotional connection that the nurse will build with the patient will establish how effective he/she is offering care. Nurses must use their best judgment to offer good nursing care. Whatever a nurse decides at a specific time would represent their best judgment at that particular moment. The nurse can defend their decisions and it shows how human beings are naturally. Previously before the theory was developed, nurses never thought about the patient, but rather about the medical care. This was changed with the development of the theory.

Nurses now concentrate more on the patient and not about the medical model. Consequences The consequences of helping patients are significant in nursing care. Nurses who genuinely help their patients are most likely to offer the required care and the patient would recover faster. Help is vital in that a patient can communicate and deal with a nurse at an emotional level. If nurses do not offer help to their patient, the patient would only receive medical care, and they would not get holistic care as required.

Model case All the cases are fictitious, and they do not represent any actual event or facility. Mr. Smith visited the hospital complaining of pain in the lower abdomen. He had been suffering for the past couple of days, and the pain was becoming unbearable. Apart from this pain, he was in perfect health condition, and a person could not discover his ailment without him disclosing it to them. When he saw the nurse, he expressed his discomfort, and the nurse paid close attention making necessary observations.

The nurse established that Mr. Smith was genuinely in pain, and he required a proper medical plan. Had the nurse ignored him she would not have offered any help to him, and he would have continued to suffer. His case was abnormal, and it required medical care and nursing care. The related case would involve a nurse making all the necessary observation and establishing that the patient requires help, but instead the nurse opts to offer medical care without nursing care.

This would result in the patient receiving proper treatment, but they would not get holistic care as expected. If a patient were not able to express their discomfort, a nurse would only offer care based on what they observe, but this would not result in holistic care. The nurse would not establish if they have helped the patient since the patient cannot express what they feel. The patient would.