A nurse who is a beginner with basic skills and little experience, who is rule-driven and trusts authority, is described as which type of nurse?

• A. Novice Nurse
• B. Advanced Beginner
• C. Competent Nurse
• D. Proficient Nurse

Answer: (A)

This describes a novice nurse. In this stage, a beginner has basic skills but little hands-on experience and relies on clear rules and guidance from authorities to perform care. They tend to follow protocols rigidly and may struggle with prioritizing or adapting to unexpected situations because they lack experiential judgment. As they gain exposure, they move to advanced beginner, who starts recognizing patterns but still leans on guidelines; then on to competent and proficient stages where planning, holistic understanding, and intuition develop with time. So the best fit for this description is the novice level.