When is a nurse considered experienced?

Look up Patricia Benner's work. Short answer, 5 years. (Although I think most people would say 5 years to competency, expert somewhere closer to 10).

Exerienced? About a week

Competent? About a year

Expert? 10 years or more

1 week, lol , i remember a chart in our med surge book that addressed this it basically said 0-6 months rookie 1-2years novice, 2-4 experienced , 5 - 8? veteran , 10 plus pro/ expert, im also guess that's staying in one field of nursing, being there are so many different

Depends on the individual. Some never get it . Some are quite good much earlier than others.

Not sure there is a set number of years.

I DO feel that, if you remain "just" or "only" a bedside nurse (I HATE it when people use those terms!), it's a case of diminishing returns. In other words, how much more does a bedside nurse gain, say, in knowledge after five years in the same specialty? After a while, you start to see the same things and can easily anticipate what the doctor will order. Zzzz...

By definition "experienced" does not have a set period of time....in practice, it all depends on the person "claiming" or who is seen as being experienced.

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/experienced

Nursing experience does not depends solely on the number of years you have worked, but it depends on how efficiently you are able to care, manage and satisfy the patients. If you are not able to do these things, then however experienced you are, there would be no value..

When said nurse can snap a gown around the pts arm that has 3 different lines running to it without a second thought...

From an HR perspective, my organization uses a 12 month cut-off. Anyone with >12 months of work is considered "experienced" & less is still considered 'new grad'. This is used for all licensed clinical positions, not just nursing

How did you know that was playing in my head?