The Importance Of Patricia Benner's Nursing Theory

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“Increased acuity levels of patients, decreased length of hospitalization, and the proliferation of health care technology and specialization have increased the need for highly experienced nurses” (Benner, 1982, p. 129). Dr. Patricia Benner has made a significant impact on the practice and ethics of nursing as a; nursing theorist, renowned lecturer and researcher (Petiprin, 2015). Dr. Benner was the first to pioneer the models of nursing theory that are focused on how nurses acquire nursing knowledge and develop their skills through the five stages of nursing. The five stages of Dr. Benner 's clinical competence include; novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert. Moreover, Dr. Benner believed that not until a nurse develops …show more content…
Benner’s nursing theory is a proficient nurse. By the fourth stage, nurses view situations as a whole rather than parts (Petiprin, 2015). So, proficient nurses learn from experiencing typical events, they are able to modify plans in response to different events, which results in them making more sound decisions (Benner, 1982, p. 132). Moreover, due to past experiences a proficient nurse has an improved holistic understanding of the patient. However, proficient nurses still have a hard time recognizing the most relevant and vital aspects of the overall picture. A proficient nurse can implement maxims as a guide to come to know what information is crucial to take into consideration (Benner, 1982, p. 133). Furthermore, proficient nurses are able to grow their knowledge more by performing various case studies (Benner, 1982, p. …show more content…
Benner’s nursing theory is an expert nurse or one that has a deep understanding of the situation. “Experience is not the mere passage of time or longevity; it is the refine merit of preconceived notions and theory by encountering many actual practical situations that add nuances or shades of differences to theory” (Benner, 1982, p. 136). Moreover, an expert nurses has an extensive background of experience, so they can achieve their goals through using necessary resources. Also, expert nurses have an intuitive grasp and know exactly what needs to be done because of their profound knowledge and experience. In addition, expert nurses base a lot of their decisions on past experience verse merely rules of analytical principle (Petiprin, 2015). However, expert nurses do implement analytical tools when they have not experienced a certain situation or feel that they have a wrong grasp of the situation (Benner, 1982, p. 134). Furthermore, a significant aspect of an expert nurses it that their care for specific patients is holistic rather than focusing only on the issue that is in front of

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