From Novice to Expert: Excellence and Power in Clinical Nursing Practice

This book should be required reading for all nurses in all nursing programs. It is an unspoken nursing student idea that when you graduate from your nursing program that you should, "know it all." This is unrealistic for the new/novice nurse. This book explains the process and gives comfort the the new nurse that expecting you to "know it all" is unreasonable and is not an expectation of the profession.

Timeless since it was published 25 years ago, Benner's book offers a realistic and thoughtful model of nursing practice which addresses many challenges that are just as pertinent today. The exemplars are classic illustrations of what makes nursing so important yet difficult to define, and most importantly that the differences in nursing practice are placed in the context of experience- which offers nursing leaders important insight into our own strategies. A "must-have"resource for managers and an "I wish I knew these things when I started" textbook for the classroom. Has a permanent place on the night stand.

This is an excellent book. It is a perfect example of how very different specialties and professions can apply similar methods and theory for discovering phenomenae for that profession. Excellent choice. I highly recommend this book.

I'm surprised that there are not more reviews of this classic. From Novice to Expert is now THE model used to describe development in nursing and is the basis for probably 99% of all the clinical ladders in existence. Benner deserves our undying gratitude for finding a way to describe what it is that nurses really DO. Her following books based on this one are also excellent. In the late '80s and '90s she used her model to describe critical care nursing, and is now using her model to describe expert nursing practice in long term care. In graduate school, so many of the models I was required to learn had nothing to do with actual nursing practice--because they were created by PhD nurse educators who had not practiced for years or decades. For her work, Benner went to bedside nurses actually doing nursing, and built her model upon what she discovered there and from them. As a clinical nurse specialist, I use this model everyday when working with other nurses and with patients.

Published in 1984 and still in print! Many of us knew from first reading that this book was destined to be a classic. The work provides two valuable contributions. Actual patient care experiences reported by 1200 respected nurses were described and analyzed. What nurses actually do is presented in clear discussion using commonly understood language. The Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisistion is then applied to this analysis of expert nursing practice. This view into the "mystery"of nursing contributes to understanding and appreciation of the unique role of this essential healthcare discipline. It is likely to be valuable to physicians, administrators and others whose work is interdependent with that of nurses as well as speaking directly to nurses. Understanding a skill acquisition process as it applies to the profession of nursing has direct relevancy both for basic educational preparation and for practice models and work assignments. Many applications, articles and books have and continue to grow from this original work. However, I still find repeated reasons to return to this primary source and the book continues to hold a special place on my desk top.