The model of Dr. Patricia Benner implies that nurses develop their skills and expertise over time through building up their educational base and gaining more experience of interaction with diverse patients in different contexts. Some professional experiences can be so significant and insightful as to transform the outlook of nurses and to bring new values into their work. While the nurse that was taking care of Sammy was operating at the level of competence, this situation allowed her to gain more holistic understanding of health care, which is characteristic of the proficiency level.

After a severe brain injury, Sammy had a large part of his brain tissue damaged. The prognosis of the physician was negative: he predicted that the boy would not be able to walk or talk (Benner, Chesla & Tanner, 2010). The nurse who was taking care of Sammy was initially disturbed by the calm and silent attitude that Sammy’s parents had to what others would perceive as a tragedy, which reveals that she was not yet comfortable in interaction with parents whose culture and background did not resemble hers. However, after the transformational experience of Sammy’s treatment, the nurse learned how important it was to devote extra time to talking with parents, however strange or unusual their behavior seems to be, thus advancing in her expertise. One of the most important characteristics of the competence stage is emotional involvement and hyper responsibility of a nurse with her patients (Benner, Chesla & Tanner, 2010).

The emotional involvement of Sammy’s nurse is best demonstrated in the intense feelings she experienced when Sammy gulped the water successfully: fluttering in the stomach, accelerated heart beat and so forth. The nurse was obviously hyper responsible for the patient as she was constantly worrying about Sammy removing the tube and restraints. Also, she was very caring about the particular preferences that Sammy has, even though they were not critical for the overall treatment process. While trying oral feeding, the nurse coordinated the process efficiently and made sure that resident in charge of the boy approved of her steps. At the same time, the fact that she did not believe in the potential success of oral feeding and was only trying her luck shows that she significantly lacked holistic understanding of the long-term treatment goals, which is an essential characteristic of the proficiency stage (Benner, Chesla & Tanner, 2010). However, the report of the nurse reveals that this experience taught her to dismiss labels that can turn into self-fulfilling prophecies and to have a perspective on how diverse aspects of care are intertwined. Her transition to the level of proficiency is also demonstrated with the fact that she now tries extra efforts to orally feed a baby who was previously fed with a tube, which reveals her reduced dependence on orders and guidelines.

In my nursing practice, I have not yet faced a similar situation, perhaps because I work night shifts only. However, I can assume that I would have approached the situation with more caution than Sammy’s nurse did. While she was following the order, her excessive enthusiasm might have been baneful for the child as she proceeded to feed Sammy with ice-cream too soon after he tried drinking without a tube. Even though she consulted a resident, there was no articulate need to try feeding at that very moment and the nurse had no plan at place in case something would go wrong. The procedures at my workplace are very rigorous and I would possibly be afraid of litigation. I believe that my experience of six and a half years is still not sufficient for me to take such daring decisions and to ignore the guidelines that have been defined for us.

In my practice, I have also faced situations when the families of my patients taught me valuable things about nursing. It often happens that parents of children in care refuse to believe in the negative prognoses of physicians and manage to achieve miracles, due to their faith or persistence, or both. For example, I remember a devoted Christian family who had a child with cerebral palsy: with their unswerving faith and continuous training, they attained striking level of the child’s psychomotor abilities despite severe initial complications. Therefore, I now try to encourage parents of children in serious conditions to keep believing in the recovery of their kids and to try all the methods they have access to.