Practical Skills
Practical skills in nursing are understood as complex actions involving movement abilities, caring intentions, theoretical and practical knowledge and ethical and moral deliberation (Bjork, 1999). This view is in opposition to the traditionally narrow understanding of practical skills as uncomplicated manual/technical movements easily learned in school and transformed into adequate performance in the clinical setting. This simplistic understanding may be sufficient with regard to technical/practical skills without patient contact, but does not suffice when patients and clients are involved as recipients of or collaborators in the practical skill. Although the practical aspects of nursing originally was viewed as the art of nursing (Nightingale, 1946; Johnson, 1994) and skill in the practical aspects of nursing was deemed the main criterion of good nursing (Reilly & Oerman, 1992), relatively little research efforts have been made to illuminate issues relevant to the learning and performance of practical skills. This may be due to a general shift in theoretical and academic interests in the nursing discipline, parallel to the establishment and growth of nursing research as such. Nursing as a technical and practical vocation has developed into a more academic profession over the last decades, and research interests have followed that development.
The seminal work of Benner (1984) sparked new interest in practical aspects of nursing and has been conducive to research in this field. Benner's studies illustrate the complexity and scope of clinical nursing as well as the development of nurses' clinical skills from the level of novice to expert (Benner, 1984; Benner, Tanner & Chesla 1996). Through detailed study of practical skill performance in the clinical setting, Bjork (1999, 2000) has both extended and detailed Benner's work in relation to practical nursing skills, and developed The Model of Practical Skill Performance. This model attempts to convey that skilled performance is a complex activity of logically sequenced and integrated verbal and motor content adjusted to constantly varying patient and contextual factors. An instrumental supplement of this model was developed in 2009.
For a detailed description of the further development of The Model of Practical Skill Performance, see the article by Bjork et al. (2013).
References
Benner P. (1984) From novice to expert. Menlo Park, Ca.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Benner P, Tanner CA, & Chesla CA. (1996) Expertise in nursing practice. Caring, clinical judgement and ethics. New York: Springer Publishing Company.
Bjork IT. (1999) Hands-on nursing: new graduates practical skill development in the clinical setting. Doctoral thesis, Institute of Nursing Science, University of Oslo, Norway.
Bjork IT. (2000) What constitutes a nursing practical skill? Western Journal of Nursing Research;
Bjork IT, Lumborg K, Nielsen C, Brynildsen G, Frederiksen A-MS, Larsen K, Reierson IA, Sommer I, Stenholt B (2013). From theoretical model to practical use: an example of knowledge translation. Journal of Advanced Nursing; 69: 2336-2347.
Johnson JL. (1994) A dialectic examination of nursing art. Advances in Nursing Science; 17: 1-14.
Nigtingale F. (1946) Notes on nursing. What it is and what it is not. Facsimile of edition 1860. New York: D. Appleton and Company.
Reilly D, & Oermann M. (1992) Clinical teaching in nursing education, 2nd ed. New York: National League for nursing.
The seminal work of Benner (1984) sparked new interest in practical aspects of nursing and has been conducive to research in this field. Benner's studies illustrate the complexity and scope of clinical nursing as well as the development of nurses' clinical skills from the level of novice to expert (Benner, 1984; Benner, Tanner & Chesla 1996). Through detailed study of practical skill performance in the clinical setting, Bjork (1999, 2000) has both extended and detailed Benner's work in relation to practical nursing skills, and developed The Model of Practical Skill Performance. This model attempts to convey that skilled performance is a complex activity of logically sequenced and integrated verbal and motor content adjusted to constantly varying patient and contextual factors. An instrumental supplement of this model was developed in 2009.
For a detailed description of the further development of The Model of Practical Skill Performance, see the article by Bjork et al. (2013).
References
Benner P. (1984) From novice to expert. Menlo Park, Ca.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Benner P, Tanner CA, & Chesla CA. (1996) Expertise in nursing practice. Caring, clinical judgement and ethics. New York: Springer Publishing Company.
Bjork IT. (1999) Hands-on nursing: new graduates practical skill development in the clinical setting. Doctoral thesis, Institute of Nursing Science, University of Oslo, Norway.
Bjork IT. (2000) What constitutes a nursing practical skill? Western Journal of Nursing Research;
Bjork IT, Lumborg K, Nielsen C, Brynildsen G, Frederiksen A-MS, Larsen K, Reierson IA, Sommer I, Stenholt B (2013). From theoretical model to practical use: an example of knowledge translation. Journal of Advanced Nursing; 69: 2336-2347.
Johnson JL. (1994) A dialectic examination of nursing art. Advances in Nursing Science; 17: 1-14.
Nigtingale F. (1946) Notes on nursing. What it is and what it is not. Facsimile of edition 1860. New York: D. Appleton and Company.
Reilly D, & Oermann M. (1992) Clinical teaching in nursing education, 2nd ed. New York: National League for nursing.
