Scanner technology for data-based decision making.

Scanner systems offer several benefits to nurse executives. Clinical, educational, and administrative data can guide the nurse executive's decisions providing greater control over patient care outcomes. Information from large patient care data sets provides a powerful tool for persuading executives in other departments. Additionally, the nurse executive who can eliminate the need for personnel to conduct time consuming and costly manual data entry, may be able to justify financial support for continued development of the nursing department's information system and technological training for the staff. In this way, scanner technology meets the immediate need for information and serves as an entry to more advanced communications systems.