The Role of the Nurse Informaticists in Systems Development and Implementation
Information and communication technology is one vital factor that has continued improving the effectiveness of healthcare services. The systems development life cycle (SDLC) refers to an interactive series of processes that most healthcare organization utilize to make changes and implement them (Collins et al., 2017). The SDLC is in form of a model and is mostly used in forming new healthcare systems as well as an essential in project management. This paper looks into detail the roles that a graduate-level nurse conducts in the implementation team while in the process of developing a nursing documentation system that is new. The paper also discusses how this nurse will engage in accordance with the five stages of the SDLC. The Role of the Nurse Informaticists in Systems Development and Implementation
Planning stage
It is the first SDLC step which plays an important role in giving the direction of the whole project hence will greatly affect the final outcomes. There are various tasks that a graduate nurse performs together with the interdisciplinary team. These roles include defining the problem’s scope, researching the necessary and available solutions, gathering the resources to be used, constructing a work schedule and finally launching the project. The knowledge gained concerning clinical activities as well as the skills of critical thinking helps the nurses to contribute in objectives and goals’ identification of the project. The Role of the Nurse Informaticists in Systems Development and Implementation
Analysis Stage
It is the SDLC’s second stage where the roles of the nurse include prioritizing all the project’s requirements, establishing any possible alternatives and making the management’s recommendations (Wang et al., 2019). These are critical tasks where failure to perform them may impact loss of data and communication breakdown thus failing to meet the consumer and organization’s needs. Some of the essential components of analysis include determining the workflow of communication, processes and decision making tools. The analysis of technical demands as well as meeting the additional demands such as software, hardware space needs and staffing is also an essential component.
Design stage
It is a critical stage of the SDLC in which the nurse contributes a lot. It is a stage that ensures that the configuration of the entire software is appropriately defined. Based on the state of the hardware, data retrieval, processes, networking, user interface and archiving, the design stage ensures that the operation of the system and its architecture are determined (Collins et al., 2017). Reinforcing the system’s primary role to boost the safety of the patient is the major role of the nurse at this stage. The nurse also plays a role in the system’s customization for clinical decision support with a purpose of accommodating practices from different nursing specialties.
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Implementation
It is a stage in which the nurse further work together with the interdisciplinary team to test, customize and install the system. Some of the major roles of the nurse at this vital stage include system maintenance, outcomes’ evaluation and training of the staff (Cao & Ball, 2017). The nurse also ensures effective communication between management team and the staff for quality feedback from the consumers which may help in redesigning the whole system.
Post-implementation support stage
It is at this stage that the nurse continues with their work of supporting staff training and helping the staff to gain more understanding of the incorporated technology and its implications thus facilitating compliance and acceptance of the new system by the working staff (Wang et al., 2019). The stage also helps the staff to adhere to the best practices relating to the system. Due to this reason, the possible negative effects that occur as a result of technical failure are minimized. The nurse at this stage therefore emphasizes on continuous maintenance and upgrade of the system’s databases. The Role of the Nurse Informaticists in Systems Development and Implementation
In a recap, nurses play an important role in making and implementing changes in healthcare organizations. Through the guidance of the SDLC steps, their roles encompass synthesizing the acquired knowledge on how quality care can be achieved. The collaboration of technologists and nurse informacist is also vital as it facilitate development of programs that ensures improvement of healthcare services.
References
Cao, Y., & Ball, M. (2017). A hospital nursing adverse events reporting system project: an
approach based on the systems development life cycle. In MEDINFO 2017: Precision
Healthcare through Informatics (pp. 1351-1351). IOS Press.
https:// DOI 10.3233/978-1-61499-830-3-1351
Collins, S., Yen, P. Y., Phillips, A., & Kennedy, M. K. (2017). Nursing informatics competency
assessment for the nurse leader: The Delphi study. JONA: The Journal of Nursing
Administration, 47(4), 212-218. https://doi: 10.1097/NNA.0000000000000467
Wang, J., Gephart, S. M., Mallow, J., & Bakken, S. (2019). Models of collaboration and
dissemination for nursing informatics innovations in the 21st Century. Nursing
outlook, 67(4), 419-432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2019.02.003
Portfolio Assignment: The Role of the Nurse Informaticist in Systems Development and Implementation
Assume you are a nurse manager on a unit where a new nursing documentation system is to be implemented. You want to ensure that the system will be usable and acceptable for the nurses impacted. You realize a nurse leader must be on the implementation team.
To Prepare:
- Review the steps of the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and reflect on the scenario presented.
- Consider the benefits and challenges associated with involving a nurse leader on an implementation team for health information technology.
The Assignment: (2-3 pages not including the title and reference page)
In preparation of filling this role, develop a 2- to 3-page role description for a graduate-level nurse to guide his/her participation on the implementation team. The role description should be based on the SDLC stages and tasks and should clearly define how this individual will participate in and impact each of the following steps:
- Planning and requirements definition
- Analysis
- Design of the new system
- Implementation
- Post-implementation support
The Role of the Nurse Informaticists in Systems Development and Implementation