Linda wrote a wonderful article, Informatics: Where is it? outlining the historical development over the last 30 years on the OJIN (Online Journal of Issues in nursing). She discussed the dreams that we all had in those early years. To quote her:
"One thing that we early dreamers failed to consider was the cultural
changes that would be needed to reach our dreams. One of the biggest of
these needs is a move from a silo mentality to a multidisciplinary
perspective. Silo mentality creates a patient situation analogous to
that of three blind men describing an elephant, with each man examining a
different appendage and making decisions without considering the nature
of the ‘whole’ elephant."
Excellent statement! Yes, the cultural change and adoption of informatics have been very slow. In defense of the slow timeline, none of us envisioned the complexity or possibilities that new developments in technology that we experience today.
Linda's article reminded me of my first informatics conference that was held in Bethesda, Maryland in 1983. I remember the excitement that we all shared as we envisioned nursing harnessing the power of computer technology. I am copying the poster for the 1983 conference below.
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