Essay Example on Benner's Competency Assessment

Introduction

Dr. Benner is the pioneer of the nurses' competency level, including five stages: novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert (Benner, 2001). A novice nurse is a first-year student in the course with a limited clinical environment. Therefore, a novice can hardly predict the happenings around the environment when caring for a patient. A novice needs more experience to identify different situations, for example, mental status' signs and symptoms changes (Benner, 2001). The advanced beginner comes after the novice, and they are ahead of them as they are fresh graduates. They are at the beginning of their career, and they have enough experience to identify situations around them correctly. They have adequate knowledge from their studies, and they apply it to handle different patient situations.

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A competent nurse has good organization and planning skills (Benner, 2001). However, they are not flexible and first enough to match a proficient nurse. They have enough experience to apply their skills accurately in clinical situations more than advanced beginners. A proficient nurse better than a competent nurse as they can analyze situations wholly (Benner, 2001). They can create different solutions depending on the problems they face in a clinical situation. The final level is the expert, and it comprises of complete nurses.

An expert nurse understands their role, and they perform well in clinical situations to fulfill care objectives (Benner, 2001). Therefore, they do not need a reminder of the operation's rules to understand clinical situations. They have focus, accuracy, and speed in their work; therefore, they continuously build their analytical skills (Benner, 2001). The following sections present three clinical experiences and their level of competence, according to Benner's competencies.

Assessment

Coaching

I was tasked with coaching 1st-year undergraduate nursing students on their quality of life. I discovered various things leading to some students feeling unhappy as they go about their course. For example, some feel stuck because of the demanding nursing work, and others are pondering whether they should change their course because they feel they could pursue other professions. I talked them out of these thoughts while telling them about the nursing profession's importance in their lives and how such feelings can affect their mental state. Without concentration, one can easily fail, and they might find it hard to recover. The students need to stay happy and embrace the task ahead of them as they can affect their colleagues, who would not paint a good picture of the class. I found out that students rarely seek guidance as they are afraid of opening up to other people. I taught them the importance of consulting and counseling to their lives and their profession in the long-term. Students asked different questions, and I answered them proficiently.

According to Benner's levels of competencies, this was at an expert level. I applied my coaching skills to ensure that I passed information efficiently to achieve my goals before the process (Murray et al., 2019). I listened carefully to the students' questions as I empathized with their situations. I questioned them to retrieve more information about their happiness and how they felt about the nursing course. I created a good environment, and I got enough feedback from the students to assess the condition. Benner's nursing competencies' highest level is an expert; therefore, it indicates that it is the best (Murray et al., 2019). However, I feel that I can improve, especially on my intuition skills.

Administering and Monitoring

I was tasked with the monitoring of central venous pressure (CVP). It involved gathering equipment, sanitizing and putting on gloves, patient identity confirmation and calming, and inserting a catheter into a patient's vein until it is near the right atrium. However, a doctor inserted the catheter. The catheter then connects to a monitoring system that shows the central venous pressure. With monitoring, one can know the heart's pumping condition through venous return evaluation and cardiac function. I acquired three blood samples from the catheter for lab tests, and it can occur more times. The method of insertion of the catheter was the cut-down. The catheter is useful for continuous monitoring as long as it is inserted into the patient's vein. I measured the patient's CVP, which was about 7 cm H20.

According to Benner's levels of clinical competence, I believe I was competent (Murray et al., 2019). I knew to monitor the patient's central venous pressure, but I lacked flexibility and speed. I was slow in recording the patient's CVP compared to the initial reading that the doctor took before leaving. However, I am faster than a beginner, and I have room for improvement to reach proficient and expert levels. The proficient level requires that I develop better analytical skills and develop good response plans (Murray et al., 2019). The expert level requires that I improve my speed to match the demands of the monitoring role. At this level, I can apply the rules and analytical skills to get the best out of my role.

Organizational Role

I was tasked with educating patients on treatment, medications, and illnesses to understand the importance of maintaining their health post-treatment. It is important for patients so that they can continue maintaining their health after they leave the hospital. I answered various questions regarding the various patients' health conditions, and I gave them appropriate feedback. The patients and their families learned various health tips to improve the quality of care and life and promote medical plan adherence. I gave them a good platform for them to consult and gain adequate knowledge.

I took this role proficiently because I felt I got the response that I desired and met the organizational goals (Murray et al., 2019). The organization required me to inspire patients and their families to adhere to care plans to improve the quality of care and their lives. I put on a shift and fulfilled the demands of the role in the organization. I can improve to be an expert, especially on focus and analytical skills to create various scenarios to build up better conversations in the role (Murray et al., 2019). It was my first time on the role, and I was comfortable with every bit.

Conclusion

Two of my experiences in monitoring and organizational role were proficient, and monitoring was an expert. It is a good performance, according to Benner's levels of competence. However, I can improve to reach the highest level, even in the expert one. Benner's competence levels require more experience and knowledge at the highest stages, and with good skills development, it is possible to achieve the highest level. The highest level needs ethical discipline, speed, focus, and analytical skills. It is applicable in nursing as colleagues can help each other to develop their profession.

References

Benner, P. E. (2001). From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice. Pearson.

Murray, M., Sundin, D., & Cope, V. (2019). Benner's model and Duchscher's theory: Providing the framework for understanding new graduate nurses' transition to practice. Nurse Education in Practice, 34, 199-203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2018.12.003