An Analysis of Benner's Novice to Expert Nursing Theory

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of Patricia Benner's Novice to Expert theory, a foundational framework in nursing. It outlines the five stages of nursing proficiency: novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert, detailing the characteristics and capabilities of nurses at each stage. The essay references several journal articles to support the theory's principles and demonstrate its practical application in various aspects of nursing, including education, clinical practice, and the use of simulation. Furthermore, it discusses the benefits of integrating Benner's theory into nursing practice, highlighting how it can improve patient care, enhance professional development, and guide the implementation of information technology in healthcare settings. The conclusion emphasizes the theory's value in fostering continuous reflection and improvement among nursing professionals to achieve expertise and reduce errors.

Running Head: NURSING THEORY
Nursing Theory
Name of Student
Name of University
Author note

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Introduction
The theory works and researches by Patricia Benner provides valuable guidelines for the
professional practice in Nursing with her notable work From Novice to Expert. Benner
categorized nursing practices by 5 distinctive stages of capacities: advanced beginner, novice,
competent, proficient and expert. The research aimed to discover the distinguishable and
characteristic differences in the expert’s and novice’s observation and description of a given
clinical incident. The purpose of this essay is to elaborate on Benner’s Theory of novice to
expert, referring to the current literature for backing up the claims made in the propositions. For
describing the stages the nurses go through to become experts and how the theory is put into
practice, the paper refers to four journal articles utilising Benner’s theory in nursing. Finally, the
essay concludes with the utility and benefits of implementing Benner’s theory into nursing
practise, and how professionals can better themselves by adhering to the practises.
Content of the theory
Stage 1, when the would be professional is still a novice, he/she has no or limited
background experience in the involved circumstances. The difficulties concerning the relevant
and irrelevant facets of the situation are indispensable. The nurses who are inexperienced
function solely according to the instructions given to them by the Nursing School. They are not
trained to take the leap to patients from classroom lectures. Since they are unable to recognize
the individual needs of the patients, they end up applying random rules to all the patients.
Usually new graduates all nurses who retrieve work after a long gap can be categorized under
this section. The next stage, referred to as the beginner’s stage is when the novice embarks on
the journey of the professional life, changing the area and forte of practise. When the nurse
demonstrates a performance that is marginally acceptable after having encountered several real-

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life incidents, he/she has attained the Advanced Beginner stage. Rules and a system that is
oriented in task completion guides the activities and operations of these nurses. They are still in
need of experienced nurses or mentors for assisting them during critical conditions and
integrating their practical knowledge into practise. The competent stage of acquisition and skill
can be attained after two or three years of practise in the same area. It is considered the most
fundamental stage in medical learning as the learner is now expected to begin recognizing
patterns and determine the aspects of the situation that require intense attention and the ones that
can be ignored. The nurse in this stage devises new reasoning methods and rules for executing
plans and act in accordance with relevant facts and figures in a given situation. Following is the
Proficient stage which comes after 3 to 5 years of learning and practise. By this time the nurse
has developed a deep understanding of the circumstances as they reoccur, with the capability of
perceiving of the situation as a whole, rather than gathering the information in terms of
performance and aspects. At this level, the nurses display an improved ability to observe the
changing relevance in a given situation, including the implementation and recognition of trained
responses to the evolving situation. The Expert stage is achieved after five or more years of
meticulous training and practise. The performer in this stage is no longer in need of analytical
guidelines like maxims, rules and principles for linking the nurses’ understanding of the situation
to a suitable and applicable action. The nurse is now an expert and has now acquired immense
background knowledge and experience with an intuitive grasp on all situations without having to
undergo a wasteful consideration of a plethora of alternative solutions and unfruitful diagnoses.
Integration of Benner’s theory into practise
Authors Oshvandi, Khatiban, Borzu, Cheraghi, Moradi in their paper On the Application
of novice to expert theory in nursing; a systematic review has elucidated how Benner as a

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theorist has appropriately focused on experience and knowledge as the pillars of building a
professional nurse. According to the authors, nursing being an essentially scientific practice
requires scientific theories. The frameworks provided by Benner enable the practitioners to
analyze the different conditions of medical situations more effectively and offers a yardstick for
judging their behavior (Oshvandi et al., 2016). The theories of Benner is highly effective for the
improvement of surveillance standards, reduce the cost of healthcare and enhance the life quality
of the patients. The results of the conducted research indicates that the theories have made
notable contributions to the management, education, research and practice in the field of nursing.
Integrating Benner’s model and teachings in nursing programs helps improving the quality of
knowledge gained from experience (by practitioners in nursing) and the intuitive knowledge
acquired while learning. Gaining experience with the tools provided in the theory leaves the
learners with purified knowledge, beneficial for their future endeavors. Moving upward the
stages from novice to expert helps the aspiring nurse boost up confidence and gain adequate self-
reliance as they are facing several emergency situations where they are expected to rely on their
skills for resolving complications. Instructors of nursing can use simulators for expediting the
progress of the nurses in training. Abiding by the theory also help them gain better competencies
in task performance. Applying the principles of Benner’s theory in clinical practice requires
adequate financial resources as the exercise require regular training practices.
Kellgren and Thomas in their article Benner's Novice to Expert Model: An
Application for Simulation Facilitators details the application of Benner’s theory for
developing educator knowledge, attitude, skills for operating in the practice and academic
settings. Simulation methods are used by facilitator development in order to gain more support
and attention to the operations in nursing activities. A theoretical basis is indispensably required

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for advancing and continuing simulation practices as a discipline (Thomas and Kellgrem, 2017).
One of the primary advantages and importance of Benner’s theory is that it provides with a
conceptual structure for guiding the development in simulation facilitation and assist in the
understanding of the learning trajectory. The approach is theory based and defines with
operationalization the different development stages for concretizing the educational programs,
infrastructure and development resources that is required at various levels of the programs.
The theory can also be applied to nursing informatics in the following areas:
 Developing the information skills of nurses, along with brushing up their expertise,
competencies and knowledge.
 Developing the competencies of the technological systems used by nurses while they are
in practice.
 Improving the quality of education for the students in nursing from the primary stage till
graduation.
 Transitioning from a novice nurse to a professional expert
Experts in the dental sectors as well have adhered to Benner’s theory for a meaningful
experience in their career in healthcare. An aspiring dentist is better able to recognize their
contribution to the team, addressing the oral requirements of the patients and identifying ways to
counter the challenges in their professional journey by following the novice to expert theory. The
journey requires tenacity and intense determination backed up by a sound concurrent knowledge
and the ability to apply it in judicial practices. It gets easier to deal with complex treatments if
the professional has acquired advanced knowledge. Application of the theory increases their
overall involvement with the job and it is indicated that with the help of professional reflection

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and evaluation of core personal capabilities, practitioners are better able to evolve and improve
in their practice.
In the article Information technology from novice to expert: implementation implications
by authors Courtney, Alexandar and Demiris explores the framework of Benner’s theory to argue
that it illuminates the opportunities and challenges in the implementation of information
technology (M, 2018). IT in the nursing industry is concerned with the decision supports in
clinical practice. Although the costs and risks associated with the implementation of the
information technology in healthcare practices remain the same, the industry continues to opt for
it. The findings of the study indicate that the CDDS design and organizational policy deeply
impact the quality of the services and user adoption. It was found that a well-designed CDSS has
the potential to improve care quality to a great extent. For best results, CDSS should be based on
the reflective practices of the nurses and the knowledge derived from those reflective practices.
CDSS function is impacted positively by the nurse administrations with their participation in
facilitating the staff to get involved in the IT design, implementation and planning (Courtney et
al., 2008).
Conclusion
The detailed discussion of Benner’s theory offers a valuable insight into the relevant
literature, the theoretical framework, the scope of the system. As observed in the sections that
follows, putting the theory into practice has favorable outcomes both for the nursing staff and for
the patient. An individual wishing to make progress in the field of medical treatment must keep
reflecting upon his/her activities to become an expert in the long run. Abiding by the theory not
only subsidizes the possibility of errors in practice, but also aids in the improvement in the
quality of the services offered.

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References and bibliography
Courtney, K. L., Alexander, G. L., & Demiris, G. (2008). Information technology from novice to
expert: implementation implications. Journal of Nursing Management, 16(6), 692-699.
Larew, C., Lessans, S., Spunt, D., Foster, D., & Covington, B. G. (2006). Innovations in clinical
simulation: Application of Benner's theory in an interactive patient care
simulation. Nursing education perspectives, 27(1), 16-21.
M, T. (2018). Benner's Novice to Expert Model: An Application for Simulation Facilitators. -
PubMed - NCBI. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28899267
Oshvandi, K., Sadeghi Moghadam, A., Khatiban, M., Cheraghi, F., Borzu, R., & Moradi, Y.
(2016). On the application of novice to expert theory in nursing; a systematic
review. Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Thomas, C. M., & Kellgren, M. (2017). Benner’s Novice to Expert Model: An Application for
Simulation Facilitators. Nursing science quarterly, 30(3), 227-234.
Thomas, C. M., Sievers, L. D., Kellgren, M., Manning, S. J., Rojas, D. E., & Gamblian, V. C.
(2015). Developing a theory-based simulation educator resource. Nursing education
perspectives, 36(5), 340-342.