In order to explore how to apply Patricia Benner's philosophy on the clinical field, a research was done about the scientific literature, initially with a five year range. However, little material was found on that field and for this reason it was decided to increase the range to a period ranging from 1984 to 2010. 90 articles were found and 52 of them were selected.This article establishes the skills that a professional nurse needs during the clinical practice, based on Patricia Benner´s approach that modified the Dreyfus brothers' skill acquisition levels in order to apply them to nursery in the clinical area; additionally, it is related to the knowledge patterns described by Barbara Carper and the profile that a nurse must have in order to take care of patients who, either due to their age or clinical condition, are located on the ICU or pediatrics