Winston – Salem State University
January 21, 2013
Nursing 2312
Abstract
This paper explores the process of how nurses are socialized into their profession and how my own personal socialization process has shaped my nursing career. Using Benner’s Model of socialization, I plan to explore my own personal journey from Novice to Expert reflecting the changes in my career that were supported by his five stages or levels of proficiency. Each level produced its own challenges within each new role or level that was obtained. My own feelings about the socialization process have been exemplified and as my journey into professional nursing begins, I plan to increase my awareness of factors that may have influenced …show more content…
As in Bradby’s (1990) nursing journal article, she refers to the process of socialization using the status passage theory. She discusses the effects that age, previous work experience, and self-esteem have on a new nurse. Looking back, I did learn much more than I thought I had at the time. If I could go back, I would change the fact that I started out in a specialty area and would work as a medical-surgical nurse for at least a year. I feel that this would have better prepared me to have gone from a Novice to an Advanced Beginner as Benner’s model indicates in the time frame he states (Creasia and Friberg, p.60, 2011). Although my nursing education had provided me the knowledge I needed to feel confident in my capabilities to care for a patient, I was lagging in the areas I needed to do my job proficiently. . After one and a half years of O.R. Nursing, I left my job feeling defeated.
I was then hired as a nurse to work in the Day Hospital and Endoscopy areas at Morehead Hospital. I was very confident in the Endoscopy Suite due to the fact that I had worked there while I was awaiting the results from my Nursing Boards; I also had to rotate through Endoscopy and take call for Endoscopy while I worked in the Operating Room. I worked hard to achieve the levels from Novice to Advanced Beginner and put them to use as a competent nurse (Creasia and Friberg, p.60, 2011). I learned to prioritize and anticipate the demands of my job as