title: The relationship of nurses' professional characteristics to levels of clinical nursing expertise.
abstract: Many hospitals are searching for guidelines for professional practice models, which are a requirement for Magnet recognition. This study was undertaken to determine the professional nursing characteristics that may contribute to the development of clinical nursing expertise. Experience as an RN was found to be highly correlated with initial level of expertise. Educational preparation and certification were not correlated with expertise. This research suggests that nurses may require more on-the-job experience for the development of clinical nursing expertise than what has been reported in the literature.
authors.affiliation: Center for Nursing Research and Practice, Aurora Health Care, Milwaukee, WI 53233, USA. kathleen.bobay@marquette.edu
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bobay
authors.forename: Deborah L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Hagle
mesh_terms: D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006761:Hospitals; D009729:Nursing; D011361:Professional Competence