1.0IntroductionBecoming a nurse is like a dream come true for me as I always wanted to be a nurse and as I undergo all the training together with my several years of working in this noble profession, I began to realize that nursing is absolutely a unique profession and also a professional career. No one could be a nurse without a proper training and this set us, the nurse, apart from other profession in this world. Nursing is exceptional profession whereby the experiences gain by the practitioner is the most significant factor to ones nurse growth and also their knowledge development. A successful nurse will learn more based on his or her experiences compare to any imparted knowledge and these experiences have become their sole weapon in becoming more exclusive nurse that one could offer. By using all the experiences, a good nurse will build a concrete knowledge of this profession. The nurse will also experience the personal growth to occupy the needs in this work force. Born in Hampton, Virginia, on August 1942, Dr. Patricia Benner, a renowned philosopher as she introduced a well-known nursing theory: From Novice to Expert: Excellence and Power in Clinical Nursing Practice (Sunkes, 2010). From the theory Benner mentioned that based on her study in the nursing area, she believed that experiences gain by the nurse will depict the unique characteristics and also the knowledge embedded by the nurse. Now, the theory is widely used to enhance the knowledge on the development, professional growth and also innovative changed within the nursing profession (Sunkes, 2010). Thus this paper will discuss more on the theory proposed by Dr. Patrica Benner and also use the theory to relate with my own experiences and also growth of becoming a nurse. I will also explain more about Dr.Patricia Benner and her theory and also depict the unique of the theory proposed by her and point out some similar attributes as well as the influence of the theory in my nursing profession. The main purpose of this paper is to reflect and also to determine both my nursing experiences and also knowledge are based on the theory suggested by Dr.Patricia Benner. I will reflect on my knowledge, personal growth and also my professional attribute grounded by the theory.

2.0Nurse Theorist: Patricia Benner2.1The Life of Patricia BennerI. Early Life of Patricia BennerPatricia Benner was a middle child to a happy couple; Shirley and Clint Sawyer and she has two sisters. Patricia was born in August 1942 in Hampton, Virginia and towards in her teenager years, her parents moved to California. In California, Patricia and her two sisters completed their middle school and when she was in her high school, her parents get divorced. During this time, Patricia and also her two sisters were having difficult time and this somehow has affected her life (Sitzman, 2011). Patricia has developed her interest in nursing profession when she was a clerk at a local hospital while she was studying in college. She began taking a like to nursing when she was admitting the local hospital and this has changed her view on nursing work force.Patricia then met her soul mate, Richard Benner and married him in August, 1967. They were blessed with two beautiful children, that is a son born in the year 1973 and a daughter afterwards that was born in the year 1981. Benner and her husband then worked together to create clinical practice development models (CPDMs); then the two love birds travelled together to different hospitals across the world consulting with nurses in regards to CPDMs (Brykczynski, 2010). II. Patricia Benners Educational BackgroundPatricia Benner has a wonderful educational background as she first started her college years in Pasadena College. But as soon that she realised that she wanted to study nursing, she then transferred to Pasadena City College because in Pasadena College, there was no nursing major offered in that college (Sitzman, 2011). In the year 1964, she finally received both her associates of art in nursing from Pasadena City College and a baccalaureate of art from Pasadena College. Patricia Benner did not stop her quest for knowledge and went continuing her study in education and she received a masters degree in nursing with an emphasis in medical-surgical nursing from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in the year 1970. Later on in the year 1982, she then completed her PhD in stress, coping and health at University of California, Berkeley (Sunkes, 2010). III. Patricia Benners Achievements According to Sunkes (2010), Patricia Benner has a wide range of clinical work experiences that includes;i. Acute medical-surgical nursingii. Critical careiii. Home health careIn UCSF, Banner used to work as a post graduate nurse researcher at the school of nursing in that college. Meanwhile in Berkeley, she also worked as research assistant for Richard Lazarus, the person that Benner regards on influencing her stress and coping theory development (Brykczynski, 2010). During her master and doctoral years, Benner had taught for several years and she retired from full teaching in the year 2008. Patricia Benner has astonishing accomplishments in her life. She has written several books, included her most widely known book that is From Novice to Expert: Promoting Excellence and Power in Clinical Nursing Practice (Sunkes, 2010). Due to her delightful achievements, Benner has received numerous awards and honours for her work in nursing. Some of her awards are the Linda Richards Award for Leadership in Education in year 1989 and also Excellence in Nursing Research/Education in year 1990 (Sunkes, 2010). Besides all of her achievements and also awards bestowed to her, she is a noted researcher and lecturer on health, stress and coping, skill acquisition and ethnics morality. Patricia Benner has recently elected into the honorary fellow of the Royal College of Nursing for her influential research; which provides the basis for new legislation and design for nursing practice and education for three states in Australia (Sunkes, 2010).

3.0Patricia Benners Renown Nursing Theory 3.1The TheoryPatricia Benner has develop a famous theory in nursing profession after she published the book From Novice to Expert: Promoting Excellence and Power in Clinical Nursing Practice in the year 1894. In the theory she believed that overtime, nurses will develop skills and knowledge through sound education and experiences. Within this theory, Patricia Benner believed that one could gain knowledge and also skills that is knowing how without having ever learning the theory that suggest knowing that (Miller, 2013). This nursing theory proposed by Patricia Benner suggested that expert nurses develop skills and understanding of their patient care over time through proper educational background and as well as multitude experiences. According to Miller (2013), she used the Dreyfus Model Skill Acquisition as a foundation for her work. This Dreyfus Model, was described by Brothers Stuart and Hubert Dreyfus, is actually a model based on the observations of chess players, Air Force pilots, army commanders and also tank drivers. Based on the observation, these two brothers believed that learning was experiential that is learning experience, as well as situation-based, and that a student had to pass through the five very distinct stages in learning that is from novice to expert (Sitzman, 2011). After looking at this theory proposed by Dreyfus Brother, Dr. Patricia Benner found the similar parallels in nursing. She found that improved practice depended on experience and science, and in way to develop skills was a long and progressive process. Patricia Benner also discovered that when a nurse is engaged in various situations, and learned from them, they developed skills of involvement with their patients and family (Miller, 2013). Looking at Patricia Benners model, her model is also relevant for ethical development of nurses since perception of ethical issues is also dependent on the nurses level of expertise. Patricia Benners model has been applied to several disciplines beyond clinical nursing, and understanding the five stages of clinical competence helps nurses support one another and then appreciate that expertise in any field is a process learned over time (Sitzman, 2011).

3.2 Description of Theory: Novice to ExpertAccording to Sunkes (2010), Patricia Benners novice to expert theory is a theory of skill acquisition. In this theory, Banner poses that developing nursing skills through situational experiences is a prerequisite for expertise (Nursing Theory, 2011). As Banner adapted the Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition to nursing practice, she has identified five levels of proficiency. The levels are as follow:i. Noviceii. Advanced beginneriii. Competentiv. Proficient v. ExpertMiller (2013), added that the model also assert that as an individual progress through these levels, changes are reflected in three aspects of skill performance. They are: 1. The individual moves from dependency on abstract principles to the use of concrete experience.

2. There is a change in the individuals perception of the situation; the situation is seen less as separate, equal pieces and more as whole where only certain pieces are pertinent.

3. The individual changes from an observer of the situation to an involved performer.

(Miller, 2013)A. NoviceAccording to Benner (1984), novice can be defined as a beginner with no experience of the situation in which they are expected to perform. Thus, in order to perform for the novice nurse to develop the skills, the nurse must be put into new clinical situations. Benner (1984) also stated that novice nurses must be taught about a patients condition in objective and also measureable parameters. This is done so the novice can recognise the features of the patients condition without any situational experiences. Sitzman (2010), also added that novice nurse in practice is very limited and inflexible. They are utilizing to the straight rules to govern practice because they have limited to no clinical experience. Therefore, because of this inflexibility and rule based practice, the novice nurse cannot separate out the relevant pieces of the situation; instead all pieces are seen as equal. This novice nurse will act in a manner of tell me what I need to do and I will do it (Nursing Theories, 2011).

B. Advanced BeginnerAdvanced beginner is the next level of skill acquisition. In this level, Benner stated that advance beginner as a nurse that is: who can demonstrate marginally acceptable performance, one who have coped with enough real situation to note the recurring meaningful situational components that are termed aspects of the situation(Dreyfus Model, 1984)Based on the Nursing Theories (2011), the advanced beginners develop principles based on the experiences and begin the use of these experiences to guide their actions.

C. CompetentBenner (1984) claimed that a competent nurse is a nurse who has gained two to three years of experience in the same work area or in similar day-to-day situations. Benner also states that the competence develops when the nurse starts to see or plan his or her actions in terms of long-range goals. The competent nurse is unlike the novice and advanced beginner nurse, plans actions based on the pertinent aspects of the situation instead of including all aspects. For the competent nurse a plan establishes perspective, and the plan is based on considerable conscious, abstract, analytic contemplation of the problem (Benner, 1984). It is the planning, that is characteristic of this skill level; it is what helps the competent nurse to be more efficient and organized.

D. ProficientMiller (2013) stated that the proficient nurse perceives situations as a whole instead of in terms of aspects. According to Benner (1984), perspective is not thought out but presents itself based upon experience and recent events. Thus, perception is fundamental to the proficient nurse. In this level, the nurse understands more holistically, thus improving decision making (Nursing Theories, 2011). The proficient nurse has learned from experience typical events to expect in a clinical situation and how plans need to be modified to response to these events (Sitzman, 2010).

E. ExpertThe next level in the skill acquisition model is the expert nurse. According to Benner (1984), the expert nurse has a deep connection and understanding of the situation. The expert nurse is no longer relies on analytic principle; instead they have the expert and also an intuitive grasp of situations that is utilized to determine actions. The performance of the expert nurse is fluid, flexible, and highly proficient (Nursing Theories, 2011). Though the novice to the expert theory, the expert nurse can make assumptions based on hunches, Benner points out that the expert nurse still needs to be exceedingly skilled in the use of analytic tools, as these tools need to be used in new situations or if the nurse gets the wrong hunch (Sunkes, 2010).

4.0Relation Patricia Benners Theory to Personal Nursing Experiences4.1NoviceAs a novice or a beginner nurse, I pain careful attention to the content that what I have learned during my nurse practice. During the time, I was intimidated if I were left alone without being supervised by anyone or some other nurse to help me with the patients. This condition is much more the same as me following the given rules to determine actions on the basis features, like a computer following a program (Expertise in Nursing Practice, n.d.). My time in this novice stage is my first year of clinical and I have very limited ability to predict what might happen in a particular patient situation. I can only recognize some signs and also symptoms after I had experienced similar symptoms with other patients.

4.2Advanced BeginnerFrom a beginner, then I progressed to advanced beginner after my first year in the clinical nursing. It is believed that nursing practice as an advanced beginner is a time of extraordinary transition in terms of knowledge, feeling comfortable in the practice environment and self-understanding as a nurse (Miller, 2013). I am feeling calmer in the clinical nursing setting and I do not rely too much on other peoples help. According to Benner (1984), advanced beginner move from acting like a nurse to the early stages of coming into their own as nurses and developing their sense of what it is to embody the nursing role. I believed that I was coming into my own as a nurse and feeling more confident about myself.

4.3CompetentThen I advanced myself into competent nurse after more years in clinical nursing environment. At this stage, I no longer solely focused on the content or depended on any notes or help from my superior. I was able to be a better nurse as I am more competent in recognizing patterns and nature of clinical situations more quickly and accurately than advanced beginners stage. At this stage, I have been a nurse with 2-3 years of experience in the nursing and I am more aware of my long term goals.

4.4ProficientAfter being a competent nurse, I developed myself into proficient nurse. I was able to see the situations as wholes rather than pars. The proficiency that I gained comes from the experience on what events typically occur and I was able to modify plans in response to different events. According to Miller (2013), this proficient stage is a transition stage because once a nurse begins to see changing relevance; a current clinical situation can be seen in terms of a past clinical situation, thus enabling a higher skill of perception.

4.5ExpertAs an expert nurse, I no longer rely on the principles, rules or even guidelines to connect situations and determine actions. Now in this stage, I have much more background of experiences and have intuitive grasp of clinical situations. My performance is now more fluid, flexible and also highly-proficient. I am more focus on the most relevant problems and not irrelevant ones. All of these stages reflect the movement and the growth that I gain trough years in clinical nursing. Each stage builds and helps me to become a better nurse and expanded my experience to be a clinical expertise.

5.0ClosureBecoming a nurse with such confidants level and also personal growth is not an easy task as the nurse to become better clinical nursing practitioner. Reflection and experience gain from every clinical situation is an opportunity for a nurse to learn and also help them to find a better understanding of them. This will assist them to improve on patient care outcomes and use that to build up their confidence to facilitate them to be an expert nurse in the future.

ReferencesBenner, P. A. (1984). From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-WesleyBrykcznski, K. A. (2010). Benners philosophy in nursing practice. In M. R. Alligood (4th Ed.),Nursing theory: Utilization and application (pp. 137-159). Heights, MO: Mosby ElsevierMiller, J. (2013). Guide for reflection using the clinical judgement. Cambridge: LondonNursing Theorists (2011, September 16). From novice to expert: Patricia E. Benner. Retrieved September 28, 2011, from http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/Patricia_Benner_From_Novice_to_Exp ert.htmlSunkes. J.K. (2010). Nursing theory: utilization and application. Mosby Comp: Illinois Sitzman, H. (2010) in Brykcznski, K. A. (2010). Benners philosophy in nursing practiceIn M. R. Alligood (4th ed.), nursing theory: Utilization and application (pp. 137-159)Heights, MO: Mosby Elsevier