Nurses collect data every day and sometimes hourly.
Examples of data include vital signs, weight, and relevant assessment parameters. Information or knowledge, however, provides answers to questions that guide clinicians to change their practices. For example, the trending of vital signs over time provide a pattern that may lead to certain clinical decisions. Data elements that are missing or incomplete, transcribed incorrectly, or inaccurately collected are considered dirty and lead to credibility problems. In essence, data are worthless unless clinicians believe they are accurate.