Everything I find out about nursing I learned in… wait – when did I learn it?

Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that I try to put in writing beauty suggestions day-after-day. Sometimes these tweets spark discussion. One tip particularly that appeared to get people talking was this:

“Do not touch both carotid arteries at the same time and do not press too hard on them; pt may faint or have bradycardia.”

I used to be desirous about posting this because really – don’t all nurses know this already? But then I assumed – did I do know this as a nursing student? As a brand new nurse? When will I discover?

It’s been some time since I attended nursing school, but I remember learning lots about nursing theory, much more about care plans, and naturally I’ll always remember the steps within the nursing process (assess, diagnose, plan, implement, evaluate!) I can not deny that that every one this built the muse of my nursing knowledge. But it is not clear to me when the clinical skills and knowledge became ingrained in my brain – after I learned to calculate the dose of dopamine to maintain my systolic blood pressure above 85 mmHg, after I learned to show to family within the event of decline… life problems, or how I learned to prioritize the needs of critically sick patients. When did these items occur?

In 1984, Patricia Benner published In her groundbreaking work, the creator describes nurses as progressing through five stages of development – novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert – with each stage constructing on the knowledge and skills of the previous one. Think about your individual experiences – where do you fit into this model? How will you get to the following level?