This post is meant to elicit some opinions - I am looking for some insight from the group.

I spent nearly 20 years in IT before moving over to clinical operations.  I felt that I was among the best of my peers relative to understanding the needs of the end users - that was until I became one.  Even though I still considered myself highly end user focused, I found that I really didn't have a clue.  It was nearly impossible to understand something with which I had no frame of reference.

With the massive push for Healthcare IT, I am more in fear of what is to come more than ever before.  If there is not some greater realization on the part of IT professionals as to the critical need for alignment among the care process, the documentation process, and the revenue process, healthcare is in for a very bumpy ride.

http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/ma?f=103625098.html

Unlike our presentor's viewpoint, there is growing evidence that supports there is a difference in patient care outcomes that can be attributed to the educational level of the Registered Nurse.  This is only one source, there are others. 

While I agree that experienced nurses bring a set of skills to the clinical setting, one should not confuse competence with experience.  There is much new evidence in nursing as there is in medicine and those who have graduated  more recently with newer knowledge, skills, technology, and decisional skills that encorporate the latest evidence have much to offer in the practice setting.

Laura