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Summary
Expert community health nurses (CHNs) integrate knowledge, empathy, and communication. Expertise develops through education, personal factors, and experience, requiring training that fosters intuitive thinking.
Area of Science:
- Nursing
- Healthcare Expertise
- Professional Development
Background:
- Community health nursing (CHN) is a vital field.
- Understanding the development of expertise in CHNs is crucial for improving patient care.
- Previous models of nursing expertise may not fully capture the nuances of community practice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a model of expertise in community health nursing.
- To identify characteristics and influencing factors of clinical expertise in CHNs.
- To inform educational strategies for cultivating expert nursing practice.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative study involving 37 community health nurses (10 novices, 27 experts).
- Data collection through participant observation, individual interviews, and retrospective accounts.
- Analysis of clinical episodes to identify patterns of expert practice.
Main Results:
- Expert CHNs exhibit synchronous operation of knowledge, empathy, communication, holistic understanding, problem-solving ability, and self-confidence.
- Key factors influencing expertise development include educational background, personal attributes, and practical experience.
- A model of expertise was developed, integrating these identified characteristics and factors.
Conclusions:
- Expertise in community health nursing is a multifaceted construct.
- Educational approaches should emphasize stimulating perceptual and analytical abilities through clinical practice, case studies, and demonstrations.
- Fostering inferential and intuitive thinking is essential for educating expert community health nurses.