ABSTRACT
Nursing informatics’ short history has been characterized by revolutionary change and constant innovation. Emergent technologies have been introduced and have thrived or failed. Technologies from other industries have been adopted by nurses, such as when Sue Kinnick1 observed the use of bar codes to expedite the return of her rental car and adopted the same technology to make the process of providing medications safer through bar code medication administration. Quick application and assimilation of new technologies are easier to implement on a small scale, but the real opportunity lies with broad industry adoption of common practices that allow for new knowledge about nursing or the human condition to be generated through large, similar data and information stores.
