Discussion: Inclusion of Nurses in Systems Development Life Cycle

Discussion: Inclusion of Nurses in Systems Development Life Cycle

Nurses have significant responsibilities in implementing new health information technology systems. They interact more and directly with patients and are end users of any technology-based systems. therefore, their inclusion in systems development life cycle (SDLC) cannot be over-emphasized. As care providers, they get relevant data from different stakeholders that is critical to enhancing quality of patient care. As such, their exclusion of SDLC can have devastating effects at each stage. The SDLC focuses on provision of a framework to implement new IT systems in healthcare organizations with steps that include planning, system requirements and analysis, design, implementation, testing and integration and evaluation and maintenance (Kim et al., 2020). Failing to include nurses at the planning and requirements’ analysis stages lead to limited information and end user experiences that may be critical in capturing data on real or practical issues in the nursing practice. Exclusion of nurses may lead to development and design of new HIT systems that do not meet the requirements and needs of the nursing unit.

Analysis provides an opportunity for nurses to offer information on the workflow of systems and excluding them means that the project will not capture real data to implement quality interventions to enhance care. The implementation phase entails rolling out the new system to accrue its benefits like quality care and enhanced patient safety (Risling & Risling, 2020). Nurses will also be charged with the duty to implement these new measures. However, if they do are not involved, they may not have the hindsight of the components of the system to deliver its projected outcomes.

Over time, the nursing staff will evaluate and maintain the system for effective performance. Through evaluation, they can identify areas that require improvement, new approaches to quality provision, and offer effective yet important feedback that can better the new system. However, when they are not included in SDLC, it can be difficult for them to collect data and evidence on ways to improve the overall system’s delivery (Laureate Education, 2018). Additionally, they may lack the review metrics to enhance overall effectiveness of the systems to deliver quality outcomes. Systems can only be maintained when they are improved continually to deliver quality outcomes. In this case, failing to involve nurses in the maintenance stage means that they cannot make suggestions on the best ways and practices to ensure that a system works for the benefit of its stakeholders.

Nurses play a critical and active role in implementation and use of electronic healthcare information systems and their acquisitions. Involving them in these processes is vital for an organization and its leadership and management to attain projected benefits. The inclusion means that nurses will be part of the multidisciplinary team and will offer more insight on the requirements since they interact more with patients than any other healthcare professionals. As patient advocates, nurses ensure that systems in their organizations meet patient needs and enhance quality and their safety. The inclusion of nurses in SDLC is essential in getting better outcomes and stakeholder views to improve overall delivery. A good example is when I was involved in the SDLC and an informatics nurse (Qin et al., 2017). I worked alongside the project manager and the team to help roll out a biometrics system for inpatients that require close attention based on their medical condition. The assessment of patient’s conditions was based on ensuring that they can use a biometrics system to register their feelings and conditions daily before physician’s rounds. My participation motivated me as some of my suggestions were integrated into patient care.

References

Kim, J., Macieira, T. G., Meyer, S. L., Ansell, M., Bjarnadottir, R. I., Smith, M. B., … & Keenan,

G. M. (2020). Towards implementing SNOMED CT in nursing practice: a scoping review. International journal of medical informatics, 134, 104035.

doi: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2019.104035.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Systems implementation [Video file]. Baltimore, MD:

Author.