Professor, Thelma Shobe Endowed Chair in Ethics and Spirituality
Chair, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences,
Joint Appointment, Department of Physiological Nursing
University of California, San Francisco
 

She worked for several years in intensive care, then became a nurse researcher at the University of California at San Francisco, where she studied the nature of nursing practice and how nurses gain expertise. She published From Novice to Expert in 1984 and became a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 1985. She studied with Richard Lazarus, a social psychologist who developed a phenomenological theory of stress and coping.  She was also influenced by Heidegger, who stressed phenomenological descriptions of people, defined by their concerns, practices, and life experiences.  In other words, the knowledge embodied in the practical world is important for the development of the nurse's skills and ability to care.

(Extract from: Nurses.info, Patricia Benner)

Dr. Benner is an internationally noted researcher and lecturer on health, stress and coping, skill acquisition and ethics. Her work has had wide influence on nursing both in the United States and internationally. For example, clinical practice models and clinical practice programs in many hospitals in the United States and New Zealand. It provided the basis for new legislation and design for nursing practice and education for three states in Australia.

(Extract from: Benner Associates, Patricia Benner)

• Patricia E. Benner - Faculty Profile: University of California, San Francisco
• Benner Associates - The work of Patricia Benner, based on over 25 years of research on nursing practice, clinical development, skill acquisition and healthcare ethics, is directed to helping nurses understand and develop their practice. Based on this research, Benner Associates brings to hospitals and their nursing divisions, a plan and process to put in place a set of solutions to many of the problems facing nursing in the current environment.

• Patricia Benner

• Benner, P.  (1982).  From novice to expert…the Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition.   American Journal of Nursing, 82(3), 402-407.

• Benner, P., & Wrubel, J.  (1982).  Skilled clinical knowledge: The value of perceptual awareness. Part 1.  Journal of Nursing Administration, 12(5), 11-14.

• Benner, P., & Wrubel, J.  (1982).  Skilled clinical knowledge: The value of perceptual awareness.  Part 2.  Journal of Nursing Administration, 12(6), 28-33.

• Benner, P.  (1984).  From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice.  Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley.

• Benner, P, & Tanner, C.  (1987).  Clinical judgment: How expert nurses use intuition.  American Journal of Nursing, 87(1), 23-31.

• Benner, P.  (1987).  A dialogue with excellence.  American Journal of Nursing, 87(9), 117-1172.

• Benner, P., & Wrubel, J.  (1988).  Caring comes first.  American Journal of Nursing, 88(8), 1072-1075.

• Benner, P. & Wrubel, J.  (1989).  The primacy of caring; Stress and coping in health and illness. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley.

• Benner, P., DeCoste, B., & Clark L.  (1990).  Dialogues with excellence: The many faces of advocacy.  American Journal of Nursing, 90(1), 80-82.

• Pratt, K. A.  (1991).  Dialogues with excellence: Extending the community of care.  American Journal of Nursing, 91(4), 58-59.

• Benner, P.  (1991).  The role of experience, narrative, and community in skilled ethical comportment.  Advances in Nursing Science, 14(2), 1-21.

• Mottley, B. W. & Benner, P.  (1992).  Dialogues with excellence: Bringing Stanley back.  American Journal of Nursing, 92(6), 34-37.

• Benner, P., Tanner, C., & Chesla, C.  (1992).  From beginner to expert: Gaining a differentiated clinical world in critical care nursing.  Advances in Nursing Science, 14(3), 13-28.

• Benner, P.  (1994).  Interpretive phenomenology: Embodiment, caring and ethics in health and illness. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

• Benner, P., Tanner, C., & Chesla, C.  (1996).  Expertise in nursing practice: Caring, clinical judgment, and ethics.  New York: Springer.

• Haag-Heitman, B., & Kramer, A.  (1998).  Creating a Clinical Practice Development Model.  American Journal of Nursing, 98(8), 39-43.

• Benner, P.  (1999).  Claiming the wisdom and worth of clinical practice.  Nursing & Health Care Perspectives, 20(6), 312-319.

• Benner, P.  (2000).  The roles of embodiment, emotion and lifeworld for rationality and agency in nursing practice.  Nursing Philosophy, 1(1), 5-19.

• Benner, P.  (2000).  The wisdom of practice.  American Journal of Nursing, 100(10), 99-102.

• Edwards, S. D.  (2001).  Benner and Wrubel on caring in nursing.  Journal of Advanced Nursing, 33(2), 167-171.