Which description best matches a novice nurse?

• A. Begins at the onset of learning as a nursing student; task oriented and focused on rules.
• B. Starts at the new graduate nurse and can distinguish abnormal findings but not their significance.
• C. Sees situations holistically and coordinates services.
• D. Relies on intuition to predict problems before they occur.

Answer: (A)

This item about how nurses develop clinical judgment, from novice to expert, is testing understanding of the early stage of that progression. A novice nurse is at the very beginning of learning and relies on concrete rules and procedures. They are task-oriented, focusing on following steps and checklists rather than interpreting a patient’s situation as a whole. That’s why the description that matches a novice is someone who begins at the onset of learning as a nursing student and is rooted in rules and tasks.

As experience grows, nurses move toward recognizing patterns, distinguishing abnormalities, and eventually seeing situations holistically, coordinating care, and even using intuition built from practice. The other descriptions align with more experienced stages, not the novice level.