Nurses, like other professionals, progress through a series of stages of development that reflect their increasing ability to make sense of their work. Benner’s novice-to-expert model provides a framework for understanding how nurses develop their individualized care perceptions and practices. According to Benner, nurses move from novice to proficient to expert over the course of their careers (Ozdemir, 2019). Novices are new to the profession and have little clinical experience. They rely on rules and procedures to guide them in their work. Proficient nurses have more clinical experience and can apply knowledge and reasoning skills to their work. Experts are those who have reached the highest level of proficiency and can think critically and creatively in order to solve problems and make decisions under pressure (Baljoon et al., 2018). The article raises nurses’ knowledge of Benner’s Novice to Expert Model Perspective as a useful tool for developing their own unique care awareness and practices, as well as to shed light on nursing-specific research.
As a nurse, I have read the article and found it very helpful in understanding the theoretical foundation for the personalized approach to nursing care. I applied this theory in the past in a clinical setting when I had to care for an elderly patient struggling with dementia. I took the time to get to know her as a person and tried to understand her individual needs and preferences. This made it much easier for me to provide her with the best possible care. Similarly, the article states that nurses who exhibit holistic care behaviors have better patient outcomes. It also suggests that nurses need to be aware of their own biases and assumptions when providing care in order to provide personalized care to their patients. I had practiced this when I was handling an HIV/AIDs patient whose family and friends isolated following his condition.
After close engagement with the patient, I realized that he was suffering from stigmatization, I accepted him, and we became friends. I took care of Kennedy (patient) as a patient and as a brother; I accommodated him for two months during his recovering process. I subjected him to special meals since I felt that the meals provided in the hospital were not good enough. He needed more fruits while the hospital was only offering coffee and three slices of bread, while no family was ready to offer him financial help. The kind of attention I gave to Kennedy contributed to his faster healing and positive mindset; he currently works at Max Hospital in India in the guiding and counseling department. I know of many cases where some nurses mistreat HIV/AIDs and call them names, thus leading them to depression which slows down their healing process or death.
The article discusses how nurses are increasingly individualizing their care plans to meet their patients’ needs better. This caught my attention because it showed that nurses were taking on a more active role in patient care and not just following a set plan. This is important because it demonstrates the importance of personalized care and shows that nurses are willing to go above and beyond to make sure their patients receive the best possible care (Roy, 2018). It is also important because it highlights the importance of collaboration between nurses and doctors, which can lead to improved patient outcomes as well as nurses’ roles in patients’ recovering process.
Another thing that caught my attention was the author’s discussion of the need for nurses to “develop a personal understanding of how they construe their care.” This is an important point, as it is essential for nurses to have a personal connection to their work in order to provide quality care. Nurses who take the time to reflect on their own caregiving beliefs and practices will be better equipped to provide individualized care that meets the needs of their patients. This point is also crucial since sit clarifies to the nurses that some of the patients may be dying not because of their ailments but due to nurses’ abusive personalities.
References
Baljoon, R. A., Banjar, H. E., & Banakhar, M. A. (2018). Nurses’ work motivation and the factors affecting it: A scoping review.International Journal of Nursing & Clinical Practices, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 10-15. Web.
Ozdemir, N. G. (2019). The development of nurses’ individualized care perceptions and practices: Benner’s novice to expert model perspective.International Journal of Caring Sciences, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 1279-1285. Web.
Roy C. (2018). Key issues in nursing theory: Developments, challenges, and future directions.Nursing Research, vol. 67, no. 2, pp. 81–92. Web.