Assignment help – Discussion: The Inclusion of Nurses in the Systems Development Life Cycle
In the media introduction to this module, it was suggested that you as a nurse have an important role in the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). With a focus on patient care and outcomes, nurses may not always see themselves as contributors to the development of new systems. However, as you may have observed in your own experience, exclusion of nurse contributions when implementing systems can have dire consequences.
In this Assignment help – Discussion, you will consider the role you might play in systems development and the ramifications of not being an active participant in systems development.
To Prepare:
Review the steps of the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) as presented in the Resources.
Reflect on your own healthcare organization and consider any steps your healthcare organization goes through when purchasing and implementing a new health information technology system.
Consider what a nurse might contribute to decisions made at each stage of the SDLC when planning for new health information technology.
By Day 3 of Week 9
Post a description of what you believe to be the consequences of a healthcare organization not involving nurses in each stage of the SDLC when purchasing and implementing a new health information technology system. Provide specific examples of potential issues at each stage of the SDLC and explain how the inclusion of nurses may help address these issues. Then, explain whether you had any input in the selection and planning of new health information technology systems in your nursing practice or healthcare organization and explain potential impacts of being included or not in the decision-making process. Be specific and provide examples.
By Day 6 of Week 9
Respond to at least two of your colleagues* on two different days, by offering additional thoughts regarding the examples shared, SDLC-related issues, and ideas on how the inclusion of nurses might have impacted the example described by your colleagues.
*Note: Throughout this program, your fellow students are referred to as colleagues.
Submission and Grading Information
Grading Criteria
To access your rubric:
Week 9 Assignment help – Discussion Rubric
Post by Day 3 and Respond by Day 6 of Week 9
To participate in this Assignment help – Discussion:
Week 9 Assignment help – Discussion
Sample Essay Solution
Inclusion of Nurses
Nurses interact with patients daily and thus they have the ideas on how healthcare improvements can be carried out. The involvement of nurses in System Development Lifecycle (SDLC) is essential since it leads to systems that match the needs of the patients (Nagle, 2015). The first step is a feasibility study of analyzing if the system is necessary. The nurses are required to comment if the project will solve the gaps in medical care. The second step involves planning and defining the requirements. Nurses are needed to give ideas on the development of a custom system for specific problems (Bird, 2017). The third step is implementation, which includes coding. In this stage, nurses should be involved to ensure they own the project. The final stage is testing if the technology is working. Nurses are needed in this stage to assess if the technology has met the intended goals.
In the first stage of carrying out a feasibility analysis, dire consequences emerge when nurses are not involved. There may be a lack of connection between the systems implemented and what is required to improve patient outcomes (Wickramasinghe, Haddad & Botti, 2017). When nurses are not involved in planning and defining requirements they may also fail to render their support for the implemented systems. During the implementation, nurses are needed to ensure they own the systems since they will use them daily (Bird, 2017). A system project can fail if nurses are not involved in decision-making. During testing, if nurses are not involved, they may develop negative attitudes towards a system. Therefore, testing is also necessary to ensure they approve the technology or recommend changes.
I was involved in all stages in developing a new system for a health facility. I felt proud that the organization considered my input. For example, I explained the real experience of nurses when they are handling patients. Therefore, the organization was able to develop a custom system that could solve the problem.
References
Bird, P. (2017). A day in the life of a nurse informaticist: Implementation support. Journal of Informatics Nursing, 2(2), 27.
Nagle, L. M. (2015). The role of the informatics nurse. An Introduction to nursing informatics (pp. 251-270). Springer, London.
Wickramasinghe, N., Haddad, P., & Botti, M. (2017). Exploring nurses’ reactions to electronic nursing documentation at the point of care.
