Patricia Benner

• What is her theory?

  Novice to Expert Nursing Theory
• Patricia Benner - a nursing theorist who first developed a model for the stages of clinical competence
• Novice to Expert Nursing Theory - this nursing theory proposes that expert nurses develop skills and understanding of patient care over time
• What are the stages in Benner's Theory?

  Novice, Advance Beginner, Competent, Proficient, Expert
• Novice - this would be a nursing student in his or her first year of clinical education
• Novice - have a very limited ability to predict what might happen in a particular patient situation
• Advance Beginner - those are the new grads in their first jobs
• Advanced Beginner - have had more experiences that enable them to recognize recurrent, meaningful components of a situation
• Advance Beginner - they have the knowledge and the know-how but not enough in-depth experience
• Competent - these nurses lack the speed and flexibility, but they have some mastery and can rely on advance planning and organizational skills
• Competent - recognize patterns and nature of clinical situations more quickly and accurately than advanced beginners
• Proficient - are capable to see situations as "wholes" rather then parts
• Proficient - learn from experience what event typically occur and are able to modify plans in response to different events
• Expert - are able to recognize demands and resources in situations and attain goals
• Expert - they know what needs to be done; they no longer rely solely on rules to guide their actions under certain situations