Expertise in Community Health Nursing

Abstract

This article reports on a study of expertise in community health nursing. The objective of the study was to develop a model of expertise derived from identification of the characteristics and factors influencing clinical expertise in community health nurses (CHNs) practicing in district nursing, school health, and child health. Participant observations, individual interviews, and written retrospective accounts of clinical episodes were analyzed from 37 nurses (10 novices within the first year of community practice and 27 experts identified by peers and colleagues). The data identified the expert as someone in whom the following characteristics operate synchronously: knowledge; empathy; appropriate communication; holistic understanding; an ability to get right to the problem at hand; and self-confidence in her or his perceptions, judgments, and intervention strategies. The findings suggest that there is a combination of factors which influences the development of expertise. These include educational factors, personal factors, and experience. These factors are incorporated into the model of expertise. The data also suggest that, in order to educate for expert levels of practice, the educational process must be designed to stimulate the learner's perceptual as well as analytic abilities. This can best be achieved through clinical practice opportunities and through demonstrations and case studies which stimulate inferential and intuitive thinking in students.