ERNESTINE WIEDENBACH

Her Professional Legacy

Susan Nickel, CNRI, MSN, Theresa Gesse, CNM, PhD, and

Aileen MacLaren, CNM, MSN

The hi&y of nurse-midwiferyis rich nursing and nurse-midtifq spanned contdbuticmsto matemiiylnurse-mid-
with contributions from pioneen in an era chanctefized by the p&s wifey education and nursing theory
nursing and nurse-midwifery whose sionaliition of nursing. Her profes- will be d&cussed.
accomplishmentshave influenced the sicmal contributions were made
direction and developmart of this through multiple roles including pmc-
profession. Such accomplishments titioner, educator, author, and tbeor-
are Intawoeo in the social. urofes- ist It
is interestingto notethatjustas with
skmal, emnomic,and p&icalevents The primay source for the tidy many early pioneen. such as Night-
of the Limes. Thus. the hislodcal re- was Wiedenbarhs oral hi&y as re- ingale and Brectdmidge, among oth-
&.w of a persons life depictsthe em corded in a series of taped audio and ers, Wiedenbach was raised in a fam-
of whiih it was a part Historical re- video interviews. In addition, an in- ~~c%yenfJitybyparewwhopmmo~ed
search prcwides a means to study &i@ion of the nursing archives uJ?& education and the development of
relationships of facts and incidents, conducted at Yale University where sodal graces in their children. The
const~cts, and parameters of sczi.4 she founded and directed the nurre- family migrated to this counhy from
and professional issues tba: have in- midwifery educaiianal p-m and Gemrany when W&nbach was nine
fluenced the present and the future retired in 1966, pmfessor emeritus. years old. At the time of her birth, in
(1-a. Personal papers, wlibqs, scrap- 1900, the Amerfcan Journal ojNurs-
The descriptive historical research books. and inte1-4~ wi::. peers were ing was being published for the first
study presented here in part focuses .&a u&d to &I& dat, ~i-bus. both time. The National League for Num
upon the professional legacy of Er- pdmay and seconday data sources ing Education and the American
nestine Wiedenbach. Her career in and corroboration tecbnic,ws were Nurses Asscciat!aan had been in exis-
utiliied to verify authelticity and re- tence less than a decade.
liabiity. After comoletins a bachelor of arts
A synopsis of the rexarch findings, degree fro; W&&y College in
covering five decades of her career, 1922. Wfedenbach was uncertain of
are presented here. In particular, her her career gcak. She was intiuened
by her sistersM..md, who was a med-
ical student at Post-Graduate Hos-
sealin New York City. to ?eeka health
care profession.She recalled that she
was fasdnatedby the states he told
of his hospital experiences. Much to
the chagrin of her parents, she chase.
nursingdespite nursingsnegative so-
cld image. and enrolled in the Post-
Graduate Hospital School of Nursing.
This experience wasshoti Ilved. how-
ever. due to an encounter with the
schools admInistration.
She described the eoiscde as one
in which she and sew&l other young
student nurseshad 1heirsensibilities
offended by a nuning ins&uctor
charactedzed as rugged. Among
other things, such as the inshuctors
use of profanity, they were disen-
chanted with being thrown into the
large open wards without proper ori-
entation. They decided to take their
grievance to the Director of Nursing,
and Wiedenbach was chosen to be
the spokespersonfor the 10 students.
Unforhmately. the protest led to their
immediate expulsion. A sympathetic
nursing tnstmctor, who was Q Johns
Hopkins graduate, discussed their
plight with a fellow Johns Hopkins
alumna, Adelaide Nutttng, Chaiw?
son of the Depaltment of Nursing at
_
Teacherz CoIlwe. Columbia Univer-
sity. Nutting agreed to intervene in
thetr behalf for placement in other
schools of nursing. When Wteden-
162
b-h lramed of this, she promptly
called for an appointmentto meet ~4th
Nuttfng the next day. When told by
the secretary that thls was not pas-
sible because Mrs. Nutting was a very
busy person, Wiedenbxh replied that
she too was a busy person! She ob-
tained the appointment and conse-
quently. throughNutnngscontactwttb
Elsie Lawler, Director a the Johns
Hopkins School of Nursing, Wieden-
bath was able to continue her nursing
education. She openly creditsNuaing
for this wad fortune.
Wledenbach recalls the intensive
counseling she received from La&r
during t&t admIssIon tntenriew In
November 1922. Lawler instmcted
her not to make waves and that if
she experienceddifficultiesin her work
or study environment she was to re-
port directly to her as Director of the
School. She was not to organtze stu-
dents in d&at Therefore, both Wie-
denbach and her Johns Hopkins
roommate, Caroline Falls. carefully
adhered to the xhwls rules and reg-
ulations, noting that even bobbing
ones hair, in keeping with current
styles, was grounds for d&missal.
In recalling other student nurse ex-
periences, Wiedenbach recounted a
story about her Rat day in the labor
suite of Johns Hopkins Hmpital. She
had been assigned to a mubtparous
wman in early labor With each mild
contiaction the woman would clutch
the students hand and scream,
Nurse, dont leave me! After ob-
seming this behavior for some time,
Wiedenbach asked the woman why
she was ac6ng so frightened. The
woman replled that she had to Uve
because she had children at home.
Upon further questioning about her
fear of death in cbildbhth, it was
learned that she werheard the phy-
sician tell a nurse that she would di-
late that night and the woman in-
terpreted this as die late that night
Wtedenbacht&l the htstorianthat thla
incident revealed to her how little a
woman may know about the prccex
of childbirth and how carefully one
must explain things to them. She be-
Journal of Nurse-Mtdwlfery .
Iteva that t..is experience Impressed
upon her the Inrportaiur of always
understanding the meaning of a pa-
tients behavior.
In 1925, shegraduatedfrom Johns
H&ins School of Nursinq. one of
themost prestigtous schoois of that
time. Because she was one of few
nurses with a bachelors degree, she
was offered roveral supervtso!y PO-
sllionr. She accepted such a p&i&
ftnt at Johns Hopktns Hospital and
then later at Belle&e Hospital in New
York City. While at Bellewe, she was
given the opportunity to enroll in
graduate courses offered by Colum-
bla Untwrstty and began studies to-
ward a masters degree.
Just pdor to the stock market crash
of 1929, Wiedenbach left Bellewe
and beaan worktn-a for the Assoda-
tion for Improving Conditions of the
Poor IAICPI She worked with Dubltc
health tur&s from the Heny Street
Visiting Nurses Asa~&tion and ex-
perienced the depression era when
extenstve unemployment and pow-
er@ compounded health care needs.
She de.&ibes her functions as that of
staffpublk he&h nurse, sodal Worker.
supewisor, and education director.
She recalled that as a pubfii health
nurse, she was grantedmore auto-
omy and responsibility than hospital
nurses experienced at that time. She
stated that she found much satisfac-
tion in helping those truly in need and
- _
in betnq recoqnfzed for knowing
something.
While working at AICP, Wieden-
bath spent her evenings continuing
her part-time graduate came work
at Columbia Universtly and focused
on the areas of public health and ed-
ucation. Through the early 1933, she
helped develop the Nurstng Bureau
of Manhattan and the Brons. a re-
@by for private-duty nurses in New
York City. She was elected first pres-
ident of this organization, which was
es!abltshed in cooperation wtth Dis-
hict 13 of the New 1 ark State Nurses
As5odattOl-L
After completing a master of arts
degree from Teachers College of Co-
Vol. 37. No. 3. May/June 1992
lumbia University in 1934, Wieden-
bath took a hiatus from ciinicalpmc-
iceandaccepteda job as the secretay
and professional writer for the Nurs-
ing Information Bureau (NIB! asso-
ciated with the American Journal of
Nursing. it was In thls position that
she began to develop professional
writing skills. Although her back-
groundwas specilicallyin publichealth
and instihntional nursing, she was
id;ntifted by May Roberts, the editor
of the American Journal of Nutsing
at thd time, es one who contdbuted
to any successthe NIB achieved
due to her ldeallsm and teoactous
loyalty to good standards of nursing
(4).
Duling thls professtonal expeli-
enc.e,Wiedenbach was exposed to a
wide circleof nursing leaders. For ex-
ample,the monthlyBlletfn, to which
she mnhibuted. was published co-
operatively by the American Nursing
Association, the National League for
Nursing Education. and the National
Drganizattonof Public Health Nurses.
Through her work she also met Hazel
Corbin, Executive Director of Mater-
nity Center Association (MCAI, and
Hat&e Hemschemeyer,Director of the
Lobenstine Midwifery Clinic snd
School (which later becamethe Ma-
ternity Center Aeeoctatio~tSchool of
Nurse-Midwifeyl.
Her role of professional Writer and
her role es eecretey to the NIB in-
volved her in the anordination of m-
dlo progmms and conferences witb
nursiogeodhealthcereexperts.U&a
involved travel throughout the United
States to educatethe publicand health
careprofessiooels about the servtces,
goals, and opporhml~es of profes
sional nursing. in a 1940 publication
of the American Journal of Nursing,
Wiedenbach wrote about the bu-
reaus history and its many actlvtiies
in behalf of nursing (51. The bombing
of Pearl Harbor in 1941 intensified
the work of the NIB es preparation
for nursings role in World War II be-
gan. The NIB and the Wiedenbachs
work were key factors in tk recruit-
ment of women and men into nursing
Jwmaf of Nurrp-Midwifery . Vol. 37. No. 3, May/June1992
and of nrses into military service.
Wiedenbach confided tha.; her pref-
erencewas to serve overseas, but be-
cause of a minor heart ailment and
the impatance of NIB, she remained
at her New York post throughout the
war.
After the war, WIedenbachleft the
NIB to fulfill her longing to return to
clir~icalprectke. She re~&ed thd she
missed patient contact to such a
degree that dudng the war she did
volunteer work at Bellevue Hospital
on weekends. She had a particc!ar
interest in maternal-child health and
decided to study nurse-midwifey at
the MCA in New York City. At that
time, this choiceof study was consid-
ered unconventfonal because nurse-
midwifey was not a well-established
and acceptedspecialty.However, the
MCA School of Nurse-Midwtfey had
an excellentretatio. furthermore.
many friendships developedover the
as. includino Hazel Cabin and
&-ti; Hemxh&eyer, as well es sev-
eral of the schools graduates, who
gave Wiedenbach a sense of conR-
drnce and influenced her decision Lo
prse nune-midwifery preparation
At the ttme she began her M-
midtifey educatkm,W&nbxh was
45 years old and had been a nurse
for 20 years. Rehnning to student life
was not easy for her or for her friends.
Caroline Fal!s. former classmateand
a long-time friend and companion,
wrote in a scrapbook of Wieden.
baths that, Our hearts were youfl
and gay before our fdends twk up
midwifey. The sir-month program
of theory and supemised practicein
clinics and the home was desatbed
as arduous and strenuous. Wieden-
bath: hwwer, reportedlywas hapW
to be beck in clinical practiceand to
be working with mothers and fami-
lies, which she stated she de&y
loved.
THE NURSE-MlDwFEBv YEARS
L$on greduation horn her nurse-
midwifely program in 1946, Wieden-
bachacceptedapcwion~s!affnlse
midrvifewith MCA and :emainedthere
for five years. Vivid memories of that
dme were recalled and discussed at
lewth with the historian. She em-
phasized the positive effects of ante-
partal care given by the MCA staff
and concludedthat such care was a
great boon to the outcomes of the
servicesprovided. Admittedly, her fa-
vorite clinical responsibiliy was par-
tictpation in home deliveries. She
provided many interesting aspectsof
this role, some of which are shared
here with the reader.
For example,she describedher de-
livery beg contents as includingsterile
linens, basins. cord clamps and ties.
and &up such as Nembutal, chloral
hydmte, and morphine sulfate. She
Indicatedthat nurse-midwivesdid not
oerform eoisioiomies or rem& Iac-
ir&ms. Ii need for such r&r did
occur. which she recalfedwas rather
seldom, the on-call physicianwould
be summoned.
Wiedenbech expressed her feel-
ings&at homedeliveries werealittle
r!sky. In this em, both twins and
breech prewrdations were delivered
in the home in the presenceof a phy-
skian. The most common complicz-
iion she cMlld recall that required
hospital tmnsfer ~8s postpartum
hemorrhageaft-r a precipitous deliv-
ey. In such an event. the piice and
the MCA phystcian would be called,
and an ambulance would arrive in
about 20 mix&s. Wiedenbech re-
counts a good working relationship
with the MCA physicians and few
complkations with newborm.
She destibed the husbands role
es integml to the home birth exped-
exe. As well m providing the esse-
tieI element of Iwing support to the
laboring wife, the role frequently in-
cludeda spocfalkind of asstssn:e for
the muse-midwife, namely, oscoting
the midwife to the local saloon. the
site of the only local phone in the
area, where eveay two hours a re-
qtredlebor~repcrtwasaned
in to the clinic.
During this same period of clinical
pmcuce.Wiedenbach accepteda fel-
163
lowship et Grace-New Haven Hos-
pital to participatein a two-year dem-
0nstTation project to prepare women
for childbirth through education and
exer!se. This fellowship was capon-
wed by the MCA and the Schools
of Medicineand Nursing at Yale Uni-
wsy. The project developed after
a visit to Yale in 1947 by Grantley
Dick-Read, w!is was promotin his
theory of chtldbhth without fear, and
the consequentialinnovative thinking
of Dr. Herbert Thorns, chairman of
the universitys obstetdcs and gyne-
cology deparbnent of the School of
Medicine.
This project basically consisted of
educatingclients and staff about the
effects of relaxation in childbirth. In
mapemtio with the Yale School of
Medicine, the nurse-midwives oi the
MCAconducted classesforexpectant
txenk. Dung this time, physicians
and nurses, es well es nursing and
medicalstudents, were also taught I;:2
conceptsof preparedchildbirth. Wie-
decbarh reczls that she was given
the title d lh< w:axation lady by
same of the physicians who were
skeptical of the pwpared childbirth
concepk she was promoting
The successful results of this child-
birth education demonstration pro-
ject not only substantiated the ad-
vantages of prepared childbirth. but
also convinced the medical directors
essoctatedwith Yale that nurses with
speckiiied knowledge of obstebics
could improve hospital maternity care
end conhibute to the education of
nurses and physicians. Thus, it pro-
vided impetus for the development of
univers@ programs I advancedma-
ternity nursing education and nurse-
midwifery.
In 1952, Wiedenbach accepteda
position as maternity nursing instwc-
tar for the undemraduatestudents et
Yale Univezity S&ol of Nursing. She
recalled that she didnt do this with
the expressed intention of eventually
establishing a nurse-midwifery edu-
cation program. However, when the
School of Nursing beganplanning a
expansionto include graduatestudies
in wsiny, she promoted the inclu-
sion of the nurse-mldwtfey specialty.
She attributes her action to the intlu-
enceof Hazel Corbinsgoal for nurse-
midwifery education.The stated goal
was that nurse-midwtfew education
would be housed In uni&slty 9rad-
uateschools. Thus, in i956, the grad-
uate program in maternal-newborn
health nursing, directed by Wieden-
bath, wes begun. Her contributions
while in this role continued until her
rettrement in 1966.
The investigator gainedinsight into
Wiedenbachas an educator through
e review of her papers in the Nursing
Archives at Yale Universitv. Wieden-
bath stressed in her vaftiigs that she
wanted students to have happy ob-
stetrical experiences. Students were
evaluated thmwh their written a5-
stgnmenk caller a Summay of
Thinking. These were compositions
that represented the studenk efforts
to ldentifv and descdbenot onlv ihe
skills, useful ideas, or insights g&ed
from the leamingexpeliencosbut also
the factors that affectedhis/her ability
to gain them. The Summay of
Thinktng reconshlcted the sti-
dents activtttes in terms of purwse
and outcomes.
THE NURSfNG THEORY YEARS
As a instructor, Wiedenbach rec-
cqbed that there was no compre-
hensive maternity textbook wtth spe-
cial emphasis on the family.
Consequently, she authored Family
Centered Maternity Nursing, which
was published in 1958. She cred%
Dr. Edith Jackson, who intrcduced
the concept of rooming-in at Yale,
and the MCA staff, who were her
mentors, for influencing herwdtfngof
this odginal text with ik family cen-
tered focus.
A fdge benefit of worldn9 at Yak
was the exposure, dialogue. debate,
and friendship with some of the fore-
?& thinkers and authors of that time.
Wkdenbach recalls that Fiorence
Wald, Dean of the School of Nursing.
had a keen interest in nursing re-
Journal of Nurw-Midwifery
search and theory. Dean Weld ar-
rangedforJames Dickoff and Patricia
James, professors and theorists of
Yales philosophy department, to
conduct dasses for the School of
Nursinq facultv on theorv in relation
to re&ch and phllo&phical con-
cepts. Included aron9 those attend-
ing v.lth Wiedenbach were Virginia
Henderson and Ida Orlando. both of
whom were also faculty members in
the School of Nursing and recognized
pioneers in nursin9 theory develop-
ment. She credik her friendship and
dialogue with Ida Orlando as being
stimulus for her commitment to pur-
pose in nursing.
Wiedenbachreportedthat when she
was revkii9 her textbook Family
Centered Maternity Nursing during
the mid-1960s. sheasked Dick&and
James to read end comment on the
rough draft Dickoff andJanw pointed
out that the text of the draft followed
a orexdtive theorv. She real!al that
h;r respbnse was, %Vhatsa prewip-
ttve theoy? This obsewatton initi-
ated dialogue regarding the stgnlfl-
Lanceof prescliptivetheory as a gutde
to nursing practice. Consequently,
Wtedenbach organized the mat&l
for the second edition of Famfly Cen-
tered Maternity Nursing in & pre-
wliptive theory format However, she
9eve full credit to Dickoff and James
for the recwanittGand intemretation
of a presc&tive theory in d practice
dialpllne and the applicationof those
con&pk to the practice of clinical
teaching (6).
Dtckoff and James have stated that
theoy Is a systew of conceptuall-
z&ion inventedfor sane purpose (7).
They suggestedthat nursing as an ac-
tiDnn-orientedprofesslo should de-
velop situation-pxducing theory that
guides action with respect for reality
(71. This conceptof situatton-produc-
in9 theory was the forerunner of Wie-
denbachs ore~rintive theorv of
urslg (8). . .
Wiedenbach identifies three inter-
dependent elements in her prescdp-
tive theory. These elements are a
central purpose that su99esk the
l Vol. 37, No. 3. May/June19%
nurses leaso for wig, 0 .pYwcltp
tion that S~ the adion she deels
appropriateto the accomp:ishmet of
her mission, and the realities which
challenge the nwses ir.genuity and
creativity as she endeavors to fulfill
her cenbalpuqmse in axing through
her practice (9). Thus. each individ-
ual -nurse formulated her own pre-
scriptive theory as a practice disci-
pline in accordwith the realities of the
situation.
Practice is the what of dynamic
nursing, and the focus of practice is
the experiencing individual, accord-
ingto Wiedenbach (10). She has de.
fined clinical nursing practice as the
overt action, directed by disciplined
thoughtsand feelinss toward meetins
the &nts need-f&-help. The pmc-
tice of clinical nursing is goal-directed, vided. and throwh swtematic study
dekberatively carried out and patient
centered (11). She IdentiRos know-
edge,judgment, and skillas the three
imwrtant atbtbutes that the nurse
I& possess if she is to be effective ities in Clinical Teaching: Wieden-
in hrr wactice f121. The knowledae
may bi factual, &cculative, OT pm;-
tical, and servesas a resourcewhich
the nurse usesto gi unckxstandtng,
to make pkns, to interpret, to ex-
plain, to predfcc to draw mnclu-
sio and to implement fact and
theoy as a basisfor obtaining results"
(13). &cording to Wkdenbach,
nursing judgment invoives differ-
entiating fact from assumption, and
relatfngthemtocaue and ei%ct 114).
Wfedenbachscoce@ualiration sf
the focus and components of nursing
practicewas illustrated in a 1962 doc-
ument frmn the Yale lJntw&y Schcol
of Nursing Archives (Figure 11. I this
fllushatfon, the center of the sphere
reprwnts the experiencing indivtd-
ual or patient. This individual recefves
direct senrice through the cornpa-
nents of clinical practice. These com-
ponents are the identification of the
need-b&-&. m&n of the help
needed, and validation that the help
prwided met the need. These are en-
cased by the caxomitant of direct
nursing servtce-coordfatio, col-
labmatton, and cowking. Nursing
edt;caSm. nlli~h.~ab..;,,~~slirti~n, arid
numng orgamration arz SBEi, iv be
the next level of practice, working to-
gether for quality nursing care. Ad-
vanced study, research, and publi-
cation are viewed as the highest level
of professional nursing practice uti-
lized to ir~estigate nursing problems
and seek solutions.
Em&ine Wiedenbach believed that
to improve the quality of nursing
practice, educatorsmust suppmt the
individual nuts& effort to d&charge
her responsibilities without tio!ating
her nursing Ideals (151. She stated
that nursing service and wing ed-
FIGURE 1.
ucation are interdependent (161. E!y
Prof=k,al nursingpraccefocusand
working tcgzther, with mutual re-
components.Original work of Emetine
spect, they can $z consistencyand Wkdenbach. from the Wiedenb,xh
stability to the quality of care pro- ReadingRoom.Yak UniversitySchoolof
Nursing,New Ha&en,CT. Usedwith per-
of problems exp&n&d in the p& nlissi0of EmertineWiedenbach
tic0 of nursing, lfindl better ways of
fw&mfngin ~ngpatientcare (161.
In her 1969 text. Meetins the Real- ward fellow human beings and to-
ward herself (191. She urges indi-
bath cutllned the application of her vidual nurses to identify their own
prescriptive theoy to education in a phiihy to d,xision making. Within
practice discipline in accordance with her MU philosophy are four as-
her theoys three main components sun~ptionsabout human &we that
of central purpose, prescription. and emphasize respect for the individual.
realities. She defined her purpose in These are:
clinical teaching as follows: 1. Each humanbeingfsendawdwith
To motivatethe studentan&or facil- unique p&a&al to develop within
tate her effortrto overcomethe obrta- himselfnzowces which enabk him
de5 that no-r may later-m*e*ere to maintal and sustain himself.
wiuith
her abilitvto gai the kncwledge, 2. The human being bastcatlyst,tves
indghts,and skillsheneedsto furictin
toward self-dire&m and &&~e
capably,as a nurse.withIn the realities
independence,arld de&s not only
of the situam of which sheis or may
becamea part 117) to make best use of his capabilities
and potentialities, but to fulfill his
Accorclhwto Wiedenbach, the clin- resposibilii.
ical isfnut& bask philwnphy of 3. self-awareness and self-mep-
nursing will influence her attitude to- tance are essential to the inditid-
ward the student and can serve as a uals sense of integrity and self-
frame of reference for decision mak- lumih.
ing. Wkdenbachs philosophy en- 4. Whatever the imiivtduai does rep-
doned ?espect for dignity, worth, resents his best judgment at the
autonomy and individuality of each nwmeni of doing it (201.
studet and alkxwd serdirecbo, self-
awareness, and self-acceptance117). It is important to note that in April
She contends philosophy unda- 1961, the An&an collese of Nuurse-
lies purpose and purpose reflectsphi- Mfdwtfey adopteda expandede?-
losophy (181. Philosophy shapes sion of this philosophy at its annual
each ursesatitudestrdlife, to- meeting. The committee responsible
for the development of a philosophy early attempt to descdbe nursing though nurse-midtifey has taken on
was chaired bv Wledenbach. pmctlce and nursing education. Al- many new charactaistics in contem-
Wiedenbach describes prescrip- though she wote etienslvely on her pomy times. the basic philosophy and
tion in clinical teaching as the fac- concepts of theory In nurskIg practice purpose of its being rema. in concert
tors that. when combined, give di- and nursing education, Wiedenbach with Wledenbachstheo~y. Whenshe
rection tz the insbuctors action as ever svstematicallv validated her dlwusses clarity of purpose, mastery
well as to the thinking process that theoy o; publkhed;uch results. The of essential skills and knowledge, and
hopefully will lead lo the results de- feasibility of substantiating Wleden- a humaneness in dealing with others,
sired (21). It is the action necessay baths beliefs is timely as contern- who can challenge their applicability
to fulfill the mr%l purpose. She em- poray theorists note that the process to nurse-midtifey?
pnasizes th;.t the clinical Instructors of evaluation of theoy Is becomlng In 1966, upon her official retire-
explidt philcrrpty and purpose un- less outcome focussd. Tie trend is ment irola Ya!r. Wiedenbcch was
derlie prescdption in teaching. toward asking questions and explor- named Associate Professor tmeriius.
Application of realities. the third ina vspnnses. Chinn has stated that Matanal and Newborn Nur;ing Over
component of the prescdpttve theoy today theoy is being defined, . I the next decade, she continued to
in clinical teaching. coskts of all the a way that the theorists MU crativ- contribute to nursing education
factors that influence the teach- ity is central in sbucturing a partkular through part-time positions she held
tnglleaming process. Wkdenbach viewstatedas atheoyf23). Itwould in Maternal and Newborn Health
emphasized that tnstmctors I clinical seem that this persp+xtive is fitting of Nursing at California State University
setfinp mustexercisejudgment in or- Wiedenbachs effcnis in her conti- in Los Angeles, Maternal-Child Nurs-
der to fultIl their purpose. The real- buttons lo the theoretical base of ing at the College of Nursing, Uni-
ities in clinical leaching are sun-- nursing. versity of Flotida in Gainesville, and
marized here as follows: at the Deparhnent of Nursing, Florida
fntematkmal University in Miami.
The agent-the instructor who is CONCLUSION
Emestine Wiedenbxh pxsisted Into
rewonstb!e as the mocelliq force.
ihe return to the clinical practice of :, tate 70s to unite. educate, and
for.sludet lea&g. . - nursing through nu&midwifey advise matemiiy rating stude.ik and
The recipient-the student who is
provided the catalyst for Emestine faculty. During thk time. sh.- i-=xUci-
presumed lo want specific knowl-
Wiedenbachs development of her pated I professlorial :ole ser.:;r,ars of
edse. &Ills. abilities. and under-
concepk and theory of nursing. In nurse-midwifely studet& at the Uni-
standing that will ensbk her to as-
later years, in her numerous journal versity of Miami. In kJd!ho, she gra-
sure professional responstbillnes.
articles, books, and unpublished pa- ciowly opened ha home to students
The framework-the complex
pers, she would stress that only and faculty for a or.goig exchange
facton (such as time of day, peo-
through thoughtful and systematic of lnfonnation rel.&ve to the role and
ple present abnosphedc condi-
exploration of our beliefs and IntentS practice of nurse-midwifey. W&den-
tions. activities qoinoa on. etcl that
can the way be found to imwow baths extensive wifins_ wnned over
limit or expan~thescope of the
nursing p&ice (24). She b&wed 20 years with the publication of four
instructors and students abilities
that theow is inexhicablv inter- nursku textbooks, individual book
to function.
locked tith~pmdice, it ur?de&s it and chapten, and numerous journal pub-
The go&-the end to be attained.
is resnonsible for ik character and lications and academic presentations.
a. goal-in-intent-the attitude
qualit; (24). Examples presented in this article
of the student
Although Wiedenbach alwaus re- represent merely a overvkw of Wte-
b. gca-in-applicatio+th-the kind
fers to &ig generally In he; the- denbachs tlwoy and writings.
of framework essential for suc-
oretical presentations, it is important Wiedenbachs vast endowments to
cessful learning.
to recognize that nurse-midwifery is the hiiy of prof&oal nursing and
c. goal-in-execution-the stu-
inherent in her references to clinical nurse-midwlfey can be recogbed
dents realization of her potential
practice and clinical teaching con- by review and am&is of her expan-
for learning.
sbucb. Becoming I nurse-midwife sive career path. Her achievements
The meancthe sum and sub-
stumgthened and expanded her basic within the specific areas of cllnkal
stance P! the teaching program
philosophy of nursing. It did not alter practice, professional education and
(22).
it Her focus consistently has been on publishing, and theory development
Wiedenbachs work in the devel- the h&inq process and meetina are colorlul and extensive. It is im-
opment of nursing theoy was ahead needs. if o&plots her career pati; pottant to apprectate these accom-
of her time. Her theay, fccused on chokes, it is evident that this focus plishments through the historically
philosophy and goals, represented a has been a influencing factor. Al- significant context in which they took

166 Jovrnal of Nurse-Midwikw . Vol. 37. No. 3. Ma~lJune 1992

place. Today, in her tenth decade of
life, Wiedenbach lives in a retirement
communi~ in Miami, Florida. She has
continued to write and to advise stu-
dents but now also acts as a geron-
tol@c patient advocate and change
agent Her professional tenacity en-
dures and impels.
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167