Novice to Expert free essay sample

The profession of nursing is an experience where there is much professional growth and development to be gained. This being said it starts at the beginning with what is learned from teachings to students to what is taught to the professional nurse, taking that information and applying it to the skills in the nursing profession. Having the competency gives a nurse the confidence to take care of their patient with confidence. With the increased patient acuity and the least amount of time for the patient hospitalization, technology has to be proficient and user friendly. Technology today has come so far from ten years ago, that the nursing professionals that graduated do not have the skills that are required today with out the teachings of another. To develop the competency is only the first step to becoming an experienced nurse, this is developed over the years through teachings and support of others. We will write a custom essay sample on Novice to Expert or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But even with this help many nurses become stressed and being incompetent and search else where for employment. Patricia Benner used a theory of developmental skills, using five different stages to establish a clinical development in the practice of nursing. Here she takes into account increments in skilled performance based upon experience as well as education (Brenner, 1982). â€Å"Dr. Patricia Benner introduced a concept saying that expert nurses develop skills and understanding of patient care over time through a sound educational base as well as a multitude of experiences. She proposed that one could gain knowledge and skills (â€Å"knowing how†)† (Dracup, Bryan-Brown , 2004) Patricia Brenner Patricia Brenner is a Professor in the Department of Physiological Nursing in the School of Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco. She gained her BSN from Pasadena college of nursing and her MSN and Ph. D from the university of California in medical surgical nursing. She is the author and co-author of multiple books and many publications throughout her career. Dr. Brenner has also gained international recognition for her work in research and lectures. She is the founder of Benner Associates, where she developed a plan that is used to help process solutions to problems in the nursing industry within a hospital setting. Dr. Benner wrote a book in 1984 titled From Novice to Expert. Here she was able to break down the stages of education into levels of experience by use of the Dreyfus model of skill and acquisition. This model was originally used for the study of chess players by Hubert Dreyfus, who is a mathematician and philosopher. The levels of Competency There are five levels/stages of competency that was established by Dr. Brenner. Level one is the level of novice, these are the beginners with little or no experience to apply learned skills to a situation. Level two is the advanced beginner, these people can demonstrate to some ability and show an acceptable performance. Level three shows competency that they are able to apply learned techniques and have probably been on the job for several years. Level four are the proficient people who continue to move forward with ease, who can establish a given situation and modify it to their needs. Level five is the expert, one that no longer requires help, they are able to understand a situation and give the appropriate action needed (Brenner 1982). The levels are used to see the changes of performance, the level of understanding and the outcomes of performance in a given situation. The study taken place by Dr. Brenner was conducted at six different hospitals on 51 experienced nurses, 11 new graduates and 5 senior nurses (Brenner 1982). They showed two different levels of performance, one of past experiences and one of learned and adaption to a situation and being able to prioritize that situation. Given these techniques and applying them to the nursing profession, enables one to see on what level each nurse is able to work, who in the hospital stetting needs help and who is able to work proficiently. Conclusion Competency in nursing is established by learning, not only does it focus on clinical skills, but also understanding the science beside the skills, taking that information and reflecting and evaluating nursing abilities to achieve the desire outcomes (Kowitlawakul, 2013). With information and knowledge that is collected the goals and outcomes can be very useful in expanding the scope of practice of the nurses who are less proficient (Brenner 1982). The medical industry is evolving every day therefor the learning of technology is a must. Repetitive care and with the help of clinicians are a need to be classed as experienced, to be comfortable in ones environment will establish better preparation for patient care. This overall competency for all nursing is that there is always going to be a need for clinical specialists in the nursing field to advance the care of the patients at a level that is safe and proficient.