Patricia Benner Case

Patricia Benner was born on May 10th 1955 in Hampton, Virginia. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing at Pasadena College in 1964, her Master’s Degree in Medical Surgical Nursing at the University of California San Francisco in 1970, and her Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkley in 1982 (Nursing Theory , 2013). In the 1960’s Patricia Benner worked as the Head of the Coronary Care Unit at the Kansas City General Hospital and also as a staff nurse at the Stanford University Hospital (Nursing Theory , 2013). In 1970 Benner worked as a research associate at the University of California at San Francisco until 1975 where she went to work for Richard S. Lazarus at the University of California at Berkley as a research assistant (Nursing Theory , 2013). “ In 1979 Benner was the Project Director at the San Francisco Consortium/University of San Francisco for a project achieving methods of intra-professional consensus, assessment, and evaluation until 1981” (Nursing Theory , 2013). As of 1982 Patricia Benner has worked in research and teaching at the University of California at San Francisco School of Nursing (Nursing Theory , 2013). She has published nine books, including Novice to Expert, Nursing Pathways for Patient Safety (Nursing Theory , 2013). Dr. Benner is a member of the American Academy of Nursing and also an elected honorary member of the Royal College of Nursing (Patricia R. Benner, 2012).

Patricia Benner’s nursing theory is called Novice to Expert. Benner says that nurses “develop skills and understanding of patient care over time through a sound educational base as well as [through] experiences (Kathleen Dracup, 2004).” She proposed that, “one could gain knowledge and skills (“knowing how”) without ever learning the theory (“knowing that”)”, (Kathleen Dracup, 2004). Benner believes that nurses learn the practical knowledge (know how) through research and clinical experience (Kathleen Dracup, 2004).