Nurse informaticians critical to proving meaningful use

Nurses at the bedside serve on "the front lines" as hospitals strive to prove their "meaningful use" of technology to the federal government in hopes of securing significant funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Nurse informaticians, working in concert with chief nursing officers, guide the nursing organization toward the most effective and efficient ways to demonstrate "meaningful use." Armed with data points from the point of care, nurse informaticians and chief nursing officers will be able to quantify, for the very first time, the value of nursing's contribution to the quality of patient care in America.