Introduction
Benner presents five stages of clinical competence that can be used to assess the competencies of clinical nurses in critical care systems. According to Benner, a clinical nurse passed through five stages of clinical competence in the process of acquisition and development of skill. The stages presented by Benner include; novice, competent, advanced beginner, expert and proficient (Benner, 2000). The novice nurse has no experience in critical clinical situations they are expected to perform. They are unable to demonstrate confidence in performing safe practice and need continual physical and verbal cues. The situation described in the case study is not a novice stage. The next stage of clinical competence is the advanced beginner (King et al., 2011). At this stage, the nurse shows slightly suitable performance based on the prior experience in the actual situation. He or she is in need of slight guidance and occasional supportive cues. The third stage is the known as competent. At this stage, the nurse demonstrates competence since he or she has experienced the same job or a similar situation.
The nurse represented in the critical situation presented can be classified as a proficient nurse. The nurse was able to perceive the situation as wholes instead of chopped up aspects. The nurse understood the meaning of the patient conditions regarding a long-term goal (King et al., 2011). As is evident from the case study, the nurse gathered her or his knowledge from experience. She had knowledge of the typical events to expect in the situation presented. As a consequence, she demonstrated plans that need to be modified in response to different situations. She was able to solve the breathing difficulty experienced by the patient based on previous experience (Benner, 2000). She decided to change the elevation of the bed from a supine position to a Semi Fowler’s position. The change of position solved the breathing difficulty in the patient. The nurse described the situation employed a holistic approach to dealing with the changing patient vitals instead of dealing with individual aspects such as the decline in blood pressure as well as oxygen concentration. While it is clear that the nurse is at the proficient stage of clinical competence, it should be noted that she is not an expert nurse yet. As a consequence, when the patient condition deteriorated, she made a decision to call the doctor to re-start Levophed.
References
Benner, P. (2000). From novice to expert. Menlo Park, Calif.: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co.,
Nursing Division.
King, G., Tam, C., Fay, L., Pilkington, M., Servais, M., & Petrosian, H. (2011). Evaluation of an
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