Benner's Novice to Expert

Benner, P. (1982). From Novice to Expert. The American Journal of Nursing, 82(3), 402. doi:10.2307/3462928 This article is the original article from the author that wrote it. Written in 1982, she starts it off with the salvo-like statement that says that nursing in acute-care settings is so high-stakes and chaotic that it is not possible to standardize what a nurse does, when they do it and why when such situations come to light. However, Ms. Benner has a lot to offer in the words and paragraphs to come.

Benner notes fairly early on in the article that there are five levels of proficiency, those being novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient and expert. Benner that describes the steps one by one as the article goes on. Of course, a beginner has no experience and is basically starting from nothing in terms of where they have been but they have a lot of dreams, hopefully, about where they are going. Benner notes that an advanced beginner can manifest "marginally acceptable" performance.

A "competent" person has been on the job for two or three years and has learned a lot of the tips and tricks necessary to be at least basically adept at their job. What moves a person to the "proficient" stage is when they start to assess situations as whole environments rather than just individual pieces to be dealt with. Expert is when the person no longer needs to rely (and thus does not) on the analytical principle. They instinctively act and move in an advanced fashion.

Benner spends the rest of her treatise talking about what makes an expert. She speaks of skills being honed and shaped over time rather than something that can just be read and absorbed quickly. She states experience is "required." Article Two Drumm, J. (2013). From our readers: Novice to expert -- "a nurse educator's personal journey - American Nurse Today. American Nurse Today. Retrieved 30 May 2015, from http://www.americannursetoday.com/from-our-readers-novice-to-expert-a-nurse-educators-personal-journey/ As inferred from the citation, Drumm's work appears in American Nurse Today but it also appears online in website form.

The site is clearly dedicated to Benner's theory as explained and touched upon deeply in the first review on this site.

Drumm's introduction states that "nurses making the transition to nurse educator can find the process stressful." Drumm's offering is actually a combination of Benner's "From Novice to Expert" and Milton Mayeroff's ingredients of caring and, as stated by Drumm, "in attaining teaching expertise as a nursing educator." As far as Benner's methodology is concerned, she rattles off the steps one by one and says it in much the same way as Benner did, surely using the prior article in this literature review as a source.

She then talks about ingredients of caring. The main ones mentioned in that list are alternating rhythms, honesty, caring and humility. Most of those are self-explanatory but she explained "alternating rhythms" as being changing one's proverbial tune based on the situation and what is needed. Drumm spends the rest of the article blending Benner and Mayeroff together in explaining how to use Benner and Mayeroff's lessons at the same time and in concert.

She uses Benner's five steps as the road map but uses Mayeroff to season them up a bit. She concludes by talking about how to "grow" the future educators. Article Three Collins, S.D. (2013). Achieving Expertise - Minority Nurse. Minority Nurse. Retrieved 30 May 2015, from http://minoritynurse.com/achieving-expertise/ This third and final article does not automatically lend itself to be about Benner per the title. However, it is inextricably tied to Benner in terms of what the article actually says in its contents.

The perspective of the article and the publication is that of a nurse that is of minority status when it comes to race. It starts off with a touching tribute to a colleague of the author that presumably passed on or something. The article starts off innocently enough with a definition straight out of Merriam Webster. The definition in question is that of the word "novice." The author then segues into how nursing is a "noble" profession.

She then ponders how to get from novice to expert when it comes to the nursing profession. She speaks briefly about how the process begins, what a newly experienced nurse goes through and how hands-on experience is the hallmark of a nurse learning their trade.