Benner's Five Levels of Proficiency

Question 1

(a) learn to become members of groups and society and
(b) learn the social rules defining relationships into which they will enter. It involves learning to behave, feel, and see the world in a manner similar to other persons occupying the same role as oneself.

Answer 1

Socialization

Question 2

To instill in individuals the norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors deemed essential for survival of the profession.

Answer 2

The goal of professional socialization

Question 3

Patricia Benner’s Model was based on what model?

Answer 3

Dreyfus’ Model of Skill Acquisition

Question 4

1. Novice
2. Advanced Beginner
3. Competent
4. Proficient
5. Expert

Answer 4

Five Levels of Proficiency

Question 5

• The person has no background experience of the situation in which he/she is involved.
• Performance is limited, inflexible, and governed by context-free rules and regulations rather than experience. Context-free rules and objective attributes must be given to guide performance.
• Generally, this level applies to nursing students, but Benner has suggested that nurses at higher levels of skill in one area of practice could be classified at the novice level if placed in an unfamiliar area or situation.

Answer 5

Novice

Question 6

• Develops when the person can demonstrate marginally acceptable performance having coped with enough real situations to note, or to have pointed out by a mentor, the recurring meaningful components of the situation
• Has enough experience to grasp aspects of the situation
• Nurses functioning at this level are guided by rules and are oriented by task completion. They have difficulty grasping the current patient situation
  in terms of the larger perspective.
• Nurses at this stage view clinical situations as a test of their abilities and
  the demands of the situation placed on them rather than in terms of patient needs and responses. They feel highly responsible for managing patient care, yet they still rely on the help of those more experienced.
• Benner places most newly graduated nurses at this level.

Answer 6

Advanced Beginner

Question 7

• The advanced beginner moves to this level through learning from actual practice situations and by following the actions of others.
• demonstrates organizational and planning abilities
• begins to recognize patterns and determines which elements of the
  situation warrant attention and which can be ignored.
• devises new rules and reasoning procedures for a plan while applying
  learned rules for action on the basis of the relevant facts of that situation
• coordinates multiple complex care demands
• There is an increased level of efficiency but the focus is on time
  management and the nurse’s organization of the task world rather than on timing in relation to the patient’s needs.
• The nurse at this level may display hyperresponsibility for the patient, often more than is realistic, and may exhibit an ever-present and critical view of the self.
• has 2 or 3 years of experience

Answer 7

Competent

Question 8

• Nurses at this level demonstrate a new ability to see changing relevance in a situation including the recognition and the implementation of skilled responses to the situation as it evolves. They no longer rely on preset goals for organization and they demonstrate an increased confidence in their knowledge and abilities.
• has holistic understanding of the client, which improves decision making
• There is much involvement with the patient and family.
• focuses on long term goals
• has 3 to 5 years of experience

Answer 8

Proficient

Question 9

• Key aspects of the expert nurse’s practice: (1) a clinical grasp and resource-based practice, (2) embodied know-how, (3) seeing the big picture, (4) seeing the unexpected
• no longer relies on analytical principle (rule, guideline, maxim) to connect his/her understanding of the situation to an appropriate action
• Performance is fluid, flexible, and highly proficient.
• demonstrates highly skilled intuitive and analytic ability in new situations
• Has the ability for pattern recognition on the basis of deep experiential
  background
• For the expert nurse, meeting the patient’s actual concerns and needs is of utmost importance, even if it means planning and negotiating for a change in the plan of care.

Answer 9

Expert