Critical care information systems: essential infrastructure for critical care nursing practice.

In the three decades since the installation of the first bedside computer in the "shock ward" at the University of California and Los Angeles County Hospital, both computer technology and critical care practice have evolved rapidly. The premise of this article is that critical care information systems are an essential infrastructure for critical care nursing practice. This premise is described in terms of the critical care environment, clinical decision making in critical care, increasing demands for information about quality and costs, and national initiatives for the sharing of health care information.