A vast majority of nurses are above the age of forty five.  Many are quickly reaching the peak of retirement.  Some of these nurses have been working for over twenty years in various hospital settings.  Many of these nurses were formally educated in hospital based settings or community colleges.  In each of these learning environments, there was little emphasis placed on technology or the future trends of nursing and society.  As society continues to evolve, technological advancements are being made in all facets of the workplace.  Nurses are now required to utilize computerized documentation and data entry.  Paper charting is becoming obsolete in many facilities.  This may seem like a positive advancement for most people, but for the seasoned nurse it may become a daunting task.  Computer literacy may be an issue for many older nurses in these facilities.  There may be a significant learning curve for that particular generation of nurses.  In the future, most lab values, vital signs, and other pertinent information will be stored electronically, which will force all nurses to utilize modern technology to successfully complete their work.  Many older nurses are not accustomed to using a computer to facilitate the job requirements of traditional nursing.  Innovative technologies, such as computerized charting and data entry, will continue to evolve as health care continues to reach new limits.  This evolution of technology will propel clinicians to increase their awareness of technology and also strive to become competent enough to complete necessary tasks.  Many of the seasoned nurses will require extra instructional time for learning certain processes that will be necessary to keep up with the changing technologies.  Seasoned nurses can also work with younger staff nurses that can help facilitate the learning process.  Many older nurses may feel as if they can not "keep up" with the fast pace of technologies in the health care arena, while other older nurses may see the opportunity as a challenge to improve their computer literacy skills.  In either scenario, health care will continue to become more advanced each day and the field of nursing is no exception.