The Inclusion of Nurses in the Systems Development Life Cycle
To improve healthcare outcomes, information systems are crucial. Since nurses use such systems, they should be actively involved in their development. Nurses should be involved in designing and acquiring information systems, even though they may be different from the actual buyers or designers, to avoid opposition and ineffective utilization.
Keeping nurses in the SDLC process can lead to several problems. Nurses should be consulted during the planning and requirements formulation to provide information that would guide pertinent acquisition (Brennan & Bakken, 2015). Lack of information prevents implementers from completing the analysis process. The failure of design and implementation will also result from the project team creating an inadequate system that does not satisfy the requirements of the nurses (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). Finally, they will implement a program that might encounter opposition from the primary users.
Including nurses can resolve the issues because the project team will start with enough information. They will conduct appropriate analysis and produce project specifications that align with the nurses’ requirements and the actual users. Engagement will ensure their support for the change and eliminate potential opposition (Hollnagel & Braithwaite, 2019). The project team and nurses must work effectively together for healthcare systems to succeed.
In my nursing practice, I was a crucial player in the planning and selection of the new health information technology system. My participation in the process helped to ensure that a product was acquired that satisfies the demands of a caregiver because it involved a patient electronic records system.
Nurses must participate in the creation and acquisition of information systems. The systems are implemented and used by nurses. In order to avoid opposition or communication problems during the implementation phase, leaders should work with them.