NOVICE TO EXPERT THEORY
According to P. Benner: “Knowledge development in a practice discipline consists of extending practical knowledge (know-how) through theory based scientific investigations and through the clinical experience in the practice of that discipline.”
Her Theory:
- Dr. Benner categorized nursing into 5 levels of capabilities: novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert.
- She believed experience in the clinical setting is key to nursing because it allows a nurse to continuously expand their knowledge base and to provide holistic, competent care to the patient.
- Her research was aimed at discovering if there were distinguishable, characteristic differences in the novice’s and expert’s descriptions of the same clinical incident.
NOVICE:
- Beginner with no experience
- Taught general rules to help perform tasks
- Rules are: context-free, independent of specific cases, and applied universally
- Rule-governed behavior is limited and inflexible
ADVANCED BEGINNER:
- Demonstrates acceptable performance
- Has gained prior experience in actual situations to recognize recurring meaningful components
- Principles, based on experiences, begin to be formulated to guide actions
COMPETENT:
- Typically a nurse with 2-3 years experience on the job in the same area or in similar day-to-day situations
- More aware of long-term goals
- Gains perspective from planning own actions based on conscious, abstract, and analytical thinking and helps to achieve greater efficiency and organization
PROFICIENT:
- Perceives and understands situations as whole parts
- More holistic understanding improves decision-making
- Learns from experiences what to expect in certain situations and how to modify plans
EXPERT:
- No longer relies on principles, rules, or guidelines to connect situations and determine actions
- Much more background of experience
- Has intuitive grasp of clinical situations
- Performance is now fluid, flexible, and highly-proficient
