NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
Walden University NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE – Step-By-Step Guide
This guide will demonstrate how to complete the Walden University NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE assignment based on general principles of academic writing. Here, we will show you the A, B, Cs of completing an academic paper, irrespective of the instructions. After guiding you through what to do, the guide will leave one or two sample essays at the end to highlight the various sections discussed below.
How to Research and Prepare for NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
Whether one passes or fails an academic assignment such as the Walden University NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE depends on the preparation done beforehand. The first thing to do once you receive an assignment is to quickly skim through the requirements. Once that is done, start going through the instructions one by one to clearly understand what the instructor wants. The most important thing here is to understand the required format—whether it is APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.
After understanding the requirements of the paper, the next phase is to gather relevant materials. The first place to start the research process is the weekly resources. Go through the resources provided in the instructions to determine which ones fit the assignment. After reviewing the provided resources, use the university library to search for additional resources. After gathering sufficient and necessary resources, you are now ready to start drafting your paper.
How to Write the Introduction for NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
The introduction for the Walden University NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE is where you tell the instructor what your paper will encompass. In three to four statements, highlight the important points that will form the basis of your paper. Here, you can include statistics to show the importance of the topic you will be discussing. At the end of the introduction, write a clear purpose statement outlining what exactly will be contained in the paper. This statement will start with “The purpose of this paper…” and then proceed to outline the various sections of the instructions.
Need a high-quality paper urgently?
We can deliver within hours.
How to Write the Body for NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
After the introduction, move into the main part of the NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE assignment, which is the body. Given that the paper you will be writing is not experimental, the way you organize the headings and subheadings of your paper is critically important. In some cases, you might have to use more subheadings to properly organize the assignment. The organization will depend on the rubric provided. Carefully examine the rubric, as it will contain all the detailed requirements of the assignment. Sometimes, the rubric will have information that the normal instructions lack.
Another important factor to consider at this point is how to do citations. In-text citations are fundamental as they support the arguments and points you make in the paper. At this point, the resources gathered at the beginning will come in handy. Integrating the ideas of the authors with your own will ensure that you produce a comprehensive paper. Also, follow the given citation format. In most cases, APA 7 is the preferred format for nursing assignments.
How to Write the Conclusion for NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
After completing the main sections, write the conclusion of your paper. The conclusion is a summary of the main points you made in your paper. However, you need to rewrite the points and not simply copy and paste them. By restating the points from each subheading, you will provide a nuanced overview of the assignment to the reader.
How to Format the References List for NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
The very last part of your paper involves listing the sources used in your paper. These sources should be listed in alphabetical order and double-spaced. Additionally, use a hanging indent for each source that appears in this list. Lastly, only the sources cited within the body of the paper should appear here.
Stuck? Let Us Help You
Completing assignments can sometimes be overwhelming, especially with the multitude of academic and personal responsibilities you may have. If you find yourself stuck or unsure at any point in the process, don’t hesitate to reach out for professional assistance. Our assignment writing services are designed to help you achieve your academic goals with ease.
Our team of experienced writers is well-versed in academic writing and familiar with the specific requirements of the NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE assignment. We can provide you with personalized support, ensuring your assignment is well-researched, properly formatted, and thoroughly edited. Get a feel of the quality we guarantee – ORDER NOW.
Sample Answer for NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
Nurses play a very important role in Healthcare and in the lives of patients. They provide and coordinate patient care, educate patients and the public about various health conditions, and provide advice and emotional support to patients and their families (H.karimi 2022). According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2020), there are about 4 million nurses, many of whom work within healthcare facilities be it hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living, jails, and home health care. They advocate for patients and play a connective role between patients and doctors, patients and families. Systems Development Life Cycle has as its main goal to layout the cost-effective and time-efficient process that the development team uses to design and build high-quality software through planning and analysis, designing and building, implementation, testing, monitoring maintaining, supporting, and evaluating (Laureate 2020).
Nurses are therefore very important in the implementation and testing of new software in healthcare given the role they play and failure to do so can result in terrible consequences. Nurses should be able to voice their opinions or be included in all the stages so that they can contribute in the success and modification towards a better outcome in all the stages. Failure to include nurses in the process can results in a lot of damage because it might not be suitable for nurses because they might find it difficult to connect and relate to the care they deliver. Secondly, not including nurses to a system designed for them to use might discourage them and makes them feel left out, this will cause many people who do not like changes to quit, therefore resulting in staffs shortages, and stress ( Frisch & Roudsari 2020), Thirdly, not including nursing will cause a lot of money and time for them to be trained, in-services and educated about the new system and leaving them will less time to provide safe and effective care in a timely manner to the patient thereby diverting what their focus is all about. Therefore, nurses are required to take an active role at every level, stage, and phase of SDLC ranging from planning to the implementation phase so as to be prepared and well-knowledgeable of what is coming and how it will affect them (Wang 2019)
A couple of years ago, when ”third eye” was first introduced at my job, we were informed and trained about it and how to initiate a discussion with an unknown doctor on call. After the training and using a third eye for a month, we were, questioned if the system was very effective in communication or if we should turn it down and use the old system, about 95 % of nurses were satisfied and it greatly aligned with what we have been looking for. Third Eye gave us the opportunity to be able to call a doctor on call at any time and be able to make very quick decisions that will save a patient’s life. We all agreed and since then third has been implemented in our facilities and it is working just fine.
Conclusively, nurses play a very important and strong role in whatever tool or nursing informatics is used to provide safe and effective care. Documenting, implementing, and navigating the healthcare system, they ought to be consulted in the initial phase up to the last stage, and be able to give their input opinions because they are the ones dealing with these systems put in place, so they know best what is good and what is bad.
Reference.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing ( 2020) (AACN).
Laureate Education (Producer) ( 2020) Systems Implementation, Baltimore Md.
Frisch N, & Roudsari a.( 2020, September 21), the Nursing voice in healthcare IT acquisition decisions.
Wang, J., Gephart, S. M., Mallow, J., & Bakken, S. (2019, July 1). Models of Collaboration and Dissemination for Nursing Informatics Innovations in the 21st Century. The University of Arizona. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
There is no doubt that EHRs have helped to make both providers and nurses everyday work life more manageable in the way of all information being in one place. However, there are many barriers to utilizing this technology such as the system not being user friendly, absence of interoperability, and workflow issues (Topaz et al., 2016). Considering the fact that both nurses and clinicians use EHR to chart and make up the patient record with data and orders, their satisfaction and efficiency of how the system works for this is of great importance (Topaz et al., 2016).
Systems development life cycle (SDLC) is a process from start to finish in which EHR systems are designed and implemented (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). The SDLC model has multiple phases in which an organization navigates through prior to rolling out a new system (Singletary & Baker, 2019). In the first phase, the business plan is formed to investigate if an organization’s existing architecture can support the new system, cost-effectiveness, and estimated timeline of the project (Singletary & Baker, 2019). Nurses should be involved in this stage from the beginning in order to ensure the organization doesn’t waste time effort and funding, such as purchasing a new system that doesn’t work as intended for nursing staff. The nurses should be able to view and assess the key features of each new system the organization is contemplating.
The key tasks that a nurse may be involved in during the SDLC.
- Risk mitigation – such as downtime during systems transition or testing
- Solution definition – working with IT to determine the appearance and interface useability
- Plan development – working with IT to test and ensure the final product will meet the requirements
- Implementation – as a “super user”, ensure the processes that were previously defined are adhered to and all stakeholders’ requirements are met
- Operations – working with IT, assist when there are issues and helping to define problems in the software, such as patient assessment definitions
- Maintenance – ongoing suggestions for additional interfaces for devices, such as smart pump integration to enhance the features of the system (Singletary & Baker, 2019; McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017)
I have been working for my current organization for over two and half years. I joined this organization post-implementation and therefore was not able to be involved in our last roll out. Working in the CVICU we have had to work with a nurse informaticist when identifying issues with charting, such as inputting data from ECMO, Impella, and IABP devices into the EPIC charting system. As technology continues to evolve there will always be the need to make modifications to the existing system.
References
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Singletary, V., & Baker, E. L. (2019). Building Informatics-Savvy Health Departments: The Systems Development Life Cycle. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice: JPHMP, 25(6), 610–611. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1097/PHH.0000000000001086
Topaz, M., Ronquillo, C., Peltonen, L. M., Pruinelli, L., Sarmiento, R. F., Badger, M. K., Ali, S., Lewis, A., Georgsson, M., Jeon, E., Tayaben, J. L., Kuo, C. H., Islam, T., Sommer, J., Jung, H., Eler, G. J., Alhuwail, D., & Lee, Y. L. (2016). Nurse Informaticians report low satisfaction and multi-level concerns with electronic health records: Results from an international survey. PubMed Central (PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5333337/
Also Read:
THE ROLE OF THE NURSE INFORMATICIST IN SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION
Sample Answer 2 for NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
Resistance to change that is forced upon you is a normal response. Any implementation of new technology is a major change to any organization (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). Therefore, if a healthcare organization desires to be successful in the implementation a new software or any program that affects the delivery of nursing care, that organization must involve the nurses (laureate education, 2018). Information technologists are experts at technology in the same way, nurses are experts at nursing. If technology is to successfully invade nursing, then nurses are the key to that invasion. Planning, design, implementation and evaluation, are the stages of a systems development life cycle (SDLC) ((laureate education, 2018).
According to Weckman and Janzen (2009), Nurses who work at the point of care should always be involved in every phase of the SDLC if the healthcare organization expects a smooth transition (p. 1). Most of the time for a new software implementation is spent on planning, therefore if nurses are not involved in the planning, phase the organization will miss the opportunity to identify problems that will affect the flow of patient care (Hamer & Cipriano, 2013). It is also important to note that without the input of nurses for the planning, the implementation and evaluation phases will be a struggle. The best way to get nurses to buy in on change is to get them involved in the decision-making process (Weckman & Janzen, 2009). This allows the organization to get real time feedback on the different aspects of the program from the very people who will be using it the most. Then, the nurses would be less likely to be negative and give push back with the change.
When the hospital where I worked had planned to move from CERNER to Epic, they were wise to recruit nurses to represent every in-patient and out-patient area of the hospital. I believe that the organization realized the importance of positive nurse involvement since they wanted an effective and successful launch of the program. The nurses were able to give feedback on what should or should not be included based on their every-day interaction with the patients at the point of care. When the “Go Live” date came, the nurses were nervous about the change but knew that they could adjust because it was generated based on their needs. The implementation was made easier by the “Nurse Super Users” who spent most of their time helping with the design and planning and as such they knew the program software very well. The evaluation phase of our Epic program was of great benefit to the organization. Since they already had nurses involved in the planning, designing and implementation of Epic, the nurses wanted to do the evaluation because by then, they were already invested, and they knew that appropriate evaluation would improve the program for them in the future.
References
Hamer, S., & Cipriano, P. (2013). Involving nurses in developing new technology. Nursing Times, 109(47), 18–19
Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Systems Implementation [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Chapter 13, “Workflow and Beyond Meaningful Use” (pp. 245–261).
Weckman, H., Janzen, S., (2009) “The Critical Nature of Early Nursing Involvement for Introducing New Technologies” OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, Vol. 14, No. 2, Manuscript 2. https://doi-org.10.3912/OJIN.Vol14No02Man02
Sample Response for NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
Response 1 Shaulene Bryan
I agree with what you said, “Resistance to change that is forced upon you is a normal response”. When purchasing and implementing a new health information technology system, it is in the best interest of the organization to include staff in the decision-making process. The first phase of SDLC is the planning stage (McBride & Tietze, 2018). This stage includes end-user necessities and evaluating benefits and cost associated with the project (McBride & Tietze, 2018). Since clinicians and nurses do the most charting or input of orders into an EHR system, they should have one of the biggest inputs into which system is chosen for an organization. If the organization chooses a system and it’s not user friendly or too difficult to accomplish workloads, then the organization has failed end users. In this scenario they have also wasted money in purchasing a system that doesn’t work for employees, and therefore, is a detriment to EHR integration.
Nurses make up the largest group of healthcare workers (McLean et al., 2015). Having nurses invested in the process of IT purchase, upgrading, and appraisal, they better guarantee the success of this implementation (McLean et al., 2015). By utilizing nursing input IT specialists can have a better understanding of what the issues are from the nursing point of view, build a better system, and help lower costs both upfront and down the line with upgrades (McLean et al., 2015).
What you said about “the best way to get nurses to buy in on change is to get them involved in the decision-making process” is spot on for the implementation of a new system to be successful. Without the support of nurses, many systems will fail or not be received well. Therefore, this leads to the organization spending more money having to fix and resolve issues, or by having to start from scratch and utilizing a completely different system altogether.
References
McBride, S., & Tietze, M. (2018). Nursing informatics for the advanced practice nurse: Patient safety, quality, outcomes, and Interprofessionalism (2nd ed.). Springer Publishing Company.
McLean, A., Frisch, N., & Roudsari, A. (2015). Nursing’s Voice in Healthcare IT Acquisition Decisions. Canadian Journal of Nursing Informatics. https://cjni.net/journal/
Sample Response for NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
Shelley,
I appreciate your detailed post regarding the involvement of nurses during the system development life cycle of the EHR. I agree with your sentiment regarding how much providers and nurses rely on the EHR to make life at work more feasible. But when there are issues with interoperability and disturbances in the workflow, it can be costly and time-consuming. (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018) describes the importance of building a design team that includes individuals that “are able to contribute information about the exact current-state workflow and offer suggestions for future-state improvement”. You demonstrated this with your contribution at your job when you offered the nurse informaticist feedback on the issues that were related to your specific work-related charting in the CVICU.
Gathering valuable feedback from the nurses is crucial for the implementation of an EHR to work with the flow, not against it. Organizations can benefit from creating a culture that is proactive in embracing change and innovation that is brought forward by the nurses and other staff that interact with the technology. In an article by (Kelley, 2019), it references how nurse leaders should work together with other administrators to encourage nurses “who have ideas…will want to know how to bring those forward for consideration”. Including nurses in the early stages of the SDLC in any project can help reduce the number of unnecessary resources used later on, as well as make it an easier adjustment for all.
References
Kelley, T. (2019). Emergence of nursing innovation influenced by advances in informatics and health IT. Nurse Leader, 17(6), 531–536. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2019.09.012
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2018). Nursing Informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Sample Answer 3 for NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
As nurses, we have a unique opportunity to provide valuable input when healthcare organizations make changes that will impact patient care. The influence that nurses provide can range from helping develop a new technological upgrade (such as a new electronic health record database) or developing protocols to help improve patient outcomes. For example, a study by (Moore et al., 2019) demonstrated how a nurse-driven implementation of a sepsis-bundle algorithm helped improve timely interventions from 30% to 80% after just two months. In this case, nurses acted on the opportunity to create a checklist that helped decrease the number of sepsis fallouts, hence improving the quality of patient outcomes.
When referring to the Systems Development Life Cycle, SDLC, including nurses along each step can prove to be a tremendous benefit due to the high number of nurses that use the products or databases on a regular basis. As mentioned by (Kelley, 2019), “The implementation and adoption of EHRs…across healthcare settings brought to the forefront the absolute dependency that nurses…have on data, information and knowledge to deliver quality care”. With that said, it is important for nurses to be involved in the planning, design, implementation and maintenance with any new health information technology system.
During the planning and development of a new system, meeting the organization’s needs are at the forefront of the “why” this new technology should be implemented (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018). In my case, for example, my organization is in the process of transitioning from Cerner to Epic, and it is currently in its infancy stages. Allowing nurses to provide feedback during this phase will benefit everyone involved. Nurses have a lot of experience with documentation, and in fact, heavily rely on the electronic health record throughout all of the interactions with the patient. Feedback such as usability, assessment documentation, interface, accessing clinical notes and lab notes can help the developers better understand how to create an interface that is useful for nurses to use. For example, nurse leaders can arrange for staff nurses to provide a list of things that they would like to see in the new database, or perhaps explain what they could change about their current database.
After collecting all of the feedback, the development team can come together and find a way to analyze the feedback and use it to help categorize the main points that need to be addressed during the planning stage. If nurses are not included in the feedback during the planning phase, it can create unnecessary ramifications, such as patient care delays due to more time spent on searching through the patient’s records if the EHR lacks usability.
During the implantation phase, nurses must be able to provide feedback that can help facilitate the best outcomes. Once again, in my example of the EPIC development, there are going to be a few “superusers”, including nurses, that will be designated to help train other staff members on their units or throughout the hospital. I have personally expressed interest in becoming a superuser for the ED when EPIC is closer to replacing Cerner.
During the maintenance phase, nurses continue to be pillars in the success of any implementation. If the system works, the workflow will be acceptable, and nurses can get their jobs done. If major adjustments need to be made due to “technological advances or…new project being launched” (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018), then the SDLC will restart, hopefully with nursing input along the way.
References
Kelley, T. (2019). Emergence of nursing innovation influenced by advances in informatics and health IT. Nurse Leader, 17(6), 531–536. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2019.09.012
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2018). Nursing Informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Moore, W. R., Vermuelen, A., Taylor, R., Kihara, D., & Wahome, E. (2019). Improving 3-Hour sepsis bundled care outcomes: Implementation of a nurse-driven sepsis protocol in the emergency department. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 45(6). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jen.2019.05.005
Sample Response for NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
Response 2 Nataly Bernal
I like your opening statement “we have a unique opportunity to provide valuable input when healthcare organizations make changes that will impact patient care”. I find it very disappointing that the US, with the greatest advances in healthcare, is ranked last in “efficiency, equity, and outcomes” (Daly, 2015). EHRs were designed to help prevent medical errors, improve efficiency, and reduce cost (Daly, 2015). The data interpreted from EHR systems aids in developing “new nursing knowledge” (Daly, 2015). The “design, development, and implementation of EHRs must support the needs of patients, nurses, and other clinicians delivering care” (Daly, 2015).
The nurse’s needs must be regarded when organizations choose a system or workflow to the work culture (Bresnick, 2012). Choosing an EHR system needs to take into consideration nursing productivity (Bresnick, 2012). Nurses make up the greatest group of healthcare workers; having them invested in the product leads to an increased incidence of success with implementing a new EHR system (Bresnick, 2012). Nurses play a vital role in healthIT solutions in that nurses are experts in patient care management and recognizing key points in workflows (Freeman, 2016).
References
Bresnick, J. (2012). Nurse involvement, acceptance is critical to successful EHR use. EHRIntelligence. https://ehrintelligence.com/news/nurse-involvement-acceptance-is-critical-to-successful-ehr-use
Daly, P. (2015). Clinical nurses lead the charge with EHR. Nursing, 45(10), 25–26. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1097/01.NURSE.0000471426.47075.d2
Freeman, R. (2016). How nurses and “Non-IT” factors can improve the health IT experience. Health IT Buzz. https://www.healthit.gov/buzz-blog/health-it/nurses-non-factors-can-improve-health-experience
Sample Answer 4 for NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
Healthcare organizations not involving nurses when there is a change in the healthcare information system can be very detrimental. Technology specialists are experts in the field of technology. In the same way, nurses are experts in nursing; they understand the dynamic flow of patient care and the frequent interactions needed between numerous healthcare providers while providing nursing care. It is important for nurses to understand and for technology engineers to understand how the equipment and the software will need to interface with the facility’s existing systems (Weckman & Janzen, 2009).
If a healthcare organization does not involve nurses in each state of the Systemic Development Life Cycle (SDLC), it will disrupt because buy-in will not be attainable, and a smooth transition will not be achievable. The first phase is the most important because it is all about defining the customer’s needs in the simplest or clearest possible terms. It about understanding the customer’s business context and constraints, the functions the product must perform, the performance levels it must adhere to, and the external systems must be compatible with. The most common problem in this phase is that customers have a vague idea of what they need. It is up to one to ask the right questions and perform the analysis necessary to turn this amorphous vision into a formally-documented software requirement that can, in turn, be used as the basis for both a project plan and an engineering architecture (Contributor Melonfire, 2006).
The design phase is just as important as the analysis. It is vital in the development cycle, and great care should be taken. The appropriate stakeholders should be included in this phase. If stakeholders do not have input into this design planning, it could lead to failure. The implementation phase can significantly delay if strong leaders and key stakeholders are absent while implementing (Naji, 2017).
If nurses are included during the SDLC phases, they will contribute to selecting and implementing a hospital information system, which is essential to success. As the hospital’s largest user group, their input is needed because they are the key stakeholders.
I had input when my organization was partnering with Change Healthcare. We were taking on a new staffing application, and I was a stakeholder. On being included, the impact was huge. I felt I had a voice. During the design and implementation phases, it was easy to point out issues right away. Work rules were being created; the system was calculating month to month to tabulate weekends worked per month instead of tabulating weekends worked every 4 weeks. Once pointed out by one of the super users, it was corrected with 2 days.
Contributor Melonfire. (2007, January 2). Five common errors in requirements analysis (and how to avoid them). Tech Republic. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/five-common-errors-in-requirements-analysis-and-how-to-avoid-them/
Naji, C. (n.d.). 5 SDLC project management pitfalls and how to avoid them. Project Times. https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/5-sdlc-project-management-pitfalls-and-how-to-avoid-them.html
Weckman, H. N., & Jenzen, S. K. (2009). Critical nature of early nursing involvement for introducing new technologies. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, (14). https://doi.org/10.3912/OJIN.Vol14No02Man02
Sample Answer 5 for NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
I agree that development of a new system should include an analysis of the needs within the organization, and these should be mutually agreed upon. Understanding and addressing organization needs will then lead to the development, implementation, evaluation, and maintenance of the proposed technology system. The waterfall model is a commonly used method for implementing a new technology system into nursing practice. It is important to incorporate nurses who will be using this technology during each phase of this model to ensure that it will be successfully integrated.
To determine if the project benefits will outweigh the costs, nurses should provide insight into the needs that exist and areas where existing budget adjustments can be made. A budget must be addressed from the start of any project to avoid overspending and project failure. Prior to implementation, nurses can share the current order of the business as it stands. The introduction of a new system may sounds promising, and nurses can provide insight into how the new technology can enhance current procedures. If the newly developed technology was an electronic health record, nurses can address how this will effect patient care during the transition. Nurses can foreshadow possible difficulties that would occur and make recommendations to avoid possible nurses can provide insight from a different scope. They would be able to ensure that every aspect of the current system is analyzed and reviewed to ensure best practices are achieved and maintained. With a new electronic medical record, this phase would look into the software that would be needed to meet the facility requirements. Initial versions of the system would be created and tested by nurses for active participation. They can then provide helpful insight into which parts of the system are not user friendly, and they could address concerns before the system is finalized for use. If nurses are not included into his phase, it would be difficult for developers to backtrack. Nurses would also be given time to learn about the new system before it is introduced live. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (n.d) shared that the key to successful implementation of health information technology (health IT) is to recognize its impact on both clinical and administrative workflow. With an electronic record, programmers would activate the system with necessary programming codes. Nurses should be provided thorough training on how to appropriately access the system, and to get used to the program functions within the electronic network. Some systems provide users with access to certain portions of the system, so all nurses and additional care team members should know how to properly use the implemented technology. An electronic system is implemented to enhance the care that patients are being provided. If nurses do not learn how to use the system properly, this could potentially harm the patients being cared for. Nurses can explain where they foresee problems occurring, and they can make recommendations for improved use to ensure patient care is continuous and uninterrupted
References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (n.d). Health IT evaluation toolkit and evaluationmeasures reference guide. Retrieved from https://healthit.ahrq.gov/health-it-tools-and-resources/evaluation-resources/workflow-assessment-health-it-toolkit
Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Systems Implementation [Video file]. Baltimore, MD:Author.McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge(4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Sample Answer 6 for NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
Nurses are the most important part of the health care team in experience. From delivery of care to the assessment and observation of interventions, nurses are the line of defense for most issues. As described in our textbook, a Systems Development Life Cycle is the “stages involved in the life of a system, a model used in a systems development effort, spanning from feasibility to its demise” (McGonigle, D. & Mastrian, K.G., 2017). To me, this reflects the planning, implementation, assessment, and execution of a huge part of the care delivery with patients. By not involving nurses in the purchasing and implementation of a new SDLC, the hospital is missing out on the input of their greatest asset, the nurses.
When discussing the stages of a SDLC, I prefer the waterfall method. The waterfall method reflects how each stage falls into each other and provides direct impact as the stages progress. The stages are feasibility, analysis, design, implement, test, and maintain. Feasibility reflects whether a system is supported and needed by the team. Nurses can guide a decision by voicing their opinion on what works and what doesn’t work. Being a line of workers who deal with these systems daily, we have strong input on what works and what doesn’t. By not involving nurses, the care team is missing out on a valued insight on the feasibility of care and use of these systems. Analysis is referred to as a “detailed study of the business needs of the organization” (McGonigle, D. & Mastrian, K.G., 2017). Nurses can provide input by performing these studies and carrying out interventions required to produce the results. By not involving them, the care team would be neglecting the valued skills of the nurse. Design refers to the functionality and appeasement of the program. Nurses have to interact with these daily, so by not including nurses, the hospital runs the risk of not preparing the nurses for this change or understanding how their most crucial line of providers feels towards the change. Implementation is the coding phase of the SDLC, which not all nurses may understand. During this phase, coding is brought to life to meet requirements of the system. The coding the nurses might not understand, but nurses understand the needs of a hospital more so than anybody. By refusing to understand the nurses and their needs, the hospital may pick a SDLC that focuses on theoretical needs versus actual needs the nurses understand. Testing phase is usually the phase that implements nurses pretty heavily, for this is the roll-out portion of the SDLC. By exposing the care team to the program, the hospital can achieve feedback and understand whether the program is beneficial or not. Nurses must be involved in this phase. Failure to do so can result in back firing of the program and undereducated staff in regard to new system and how it works. The final stage is the maintenance phase. Within this portion, the program is in full effect, but updates must be issued in order to maintain the program. Nurses should be involved in this phase because they understand the needs and functionality of health care programs. If the needs are not met and nurses are not heard and understood, the issues can arise and create a negative workforce. This can backfire and create a failed program.
My workplace is currently implementing EPIC at our workplace, and the entire phase has been rough. My health system failed to listen to the nurses, and it has been backfiring on them heavily. One quote that remains true is that “successful implementation of health information technology is to recognize its impact on clinical and administrative workflow” (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, n.d.) My workplace recognized the administrative need for this new system, but they did not involve the nurses at any point in the purchasing and implementation phase. We found out we were switching about 1.5 years ago. Since then, it has been rumored we were switching “in a couple months” with no actual date. Then, out of nowhere, we were pulled off the schedule and placed on “training days” that consisted of three 10-hour nights (2000-0700) at a location we didn’t know. Halfway through the first month of unannounced training, we then were sent emails to teach ourselves an entirely new system on our own time from home due to coronavirus. Now, we are required to teach ourselves an entirely new system in a 20-hour session around the full time schedule we all work, with a horribly backed-up phone service line of one person. On top of that, the hospital announced we are switching to the new system on February 1st, and that if we are behind, it’s entirely on us. The impacts of this lead us to be infuriated with management over not giving us enough support, enough time, or enough input over whether this should have been created in the first place. They did not listen to the needs and wishes of their staff and many people have decided to leave the company over this. “As new health information systems are being planned, implemented, and maintained, effective management is need every step of the way” (Laureate Education, 2018). In the event of my hospitals management, they failed miserably, and now they are feeling the backlash for not listening to the needs of their nurses and not discussing the change or involving them in any type of way.
References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (n.d.). Workplace Assessment for Health for health IT toolkit. Retrieved September 17th, 2018, from https://healthit.ahrq.gov/health-it-tools-and-resources/evaluation-resources/workflow-assessment-health-it-toolkit
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Interoperability, Standards, and Security [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Sample Answer 7 for NURS 6051 THE INCLUSION OF NURSES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
Indeed, nurses are invaluable when it comes to implementation of new systems in the hospital. Some ideas usually exist when nurses are involved in the development of systems. According to Peirce et al. (2019), “understanding how the progression of technology fits into development of nursing knowledge while staying true to the goals of nursing science is crucial”. Nurses’ involvement will allow for nursing judgement in the development of the system which will allow for easy assimilation of the program. The facility I work for had a skin assessment tool that did not seem to have a nurse’s input during the development phase. It was poorly designed and made documentation difficult. After several undocumented skin assessment, it was brought to the attention of the information technologist to make changes this time, with the involvement of the nursing leaders. Skin documentation has not been an issue since the new program was developed because of nurses’ involvement in the process. Therefore, it is imperative that nurses are involved in the development of technological systems to promote acceptance and ease of implementation by nurse leaders (Lulin et al. 2020).
References
Peirce, A. G., Elie, S., George, A., Gold, M., O’Hara, K,. & Rose-Facey W. (2020). Knowledge
development, technology and questions of nursing ethics. Nursing Ethics.
27(1):77-87. doi:10.1177/0969733019840752
Lulin, Z., Owusu-Marfo, J., Antwi, H. A., & Xu, X. (2020). The Contributing Factors to Nurses’
Behavioral Intention to Use Hospital Information Technologies in Ghana. SAGE Open
Nursing, 6. doi:10.1177/2377960820922024
Nurses play a significant role in healthcare. Nurses know their patients well and advocate for them to receive the best healthcare possible. Not involving nurses in the systems development life cycle purchasing and implementing a new health information technology system would harm any health system. At one time or another, every health system must implement a new SDLC. Involving nurses will help things move in the right direction for the patients as this new technology is implemented. Nurses are the ones who will be navigating through the latest technology to ensure they assess a problem with a patient thoroughly. One missed step due to needing to be trained appropriately can harm the patient.
According to McGonigle and Mastrian (2019), SDLC is a continuous advancement of a life cycle. The first step is to develop a plan to understand the problem or the health system’s needs. The second step is how to address those needs. Next, a plan must be developed, implemented, and evaluated for effectiveness. Lastly, a need to maintain and review the plan to ensure efficiency after the plan has been put in place.
Nurses need to be a part of the developing plan. They can inform other team members about issues with the developing project and things that can be done differently. There should be nurses from both the hospital and the clinic to help the other team members understand what will be needed to care for their patients.
When a plan is coming into play for SDLC, nurses must address the patient’s needs with the new developing technology. The developed technology must be user-friendly for floor staff to navigate smoothly. If nurses aren’t involved in the development, it can hold back patient care trying to navigate through a new system that can harm the patient.
When a plan is being implemented and evaluated for effectiveness, nurses must be part of implementing the new technology. By allowing nurses to participate in implementation, they can train and educate other staff members on the latest technology. This can make implementing new technology easier for floor staff.
By using nurses to help maintain and review new technology plans, it will help to alleviate any problems that may come down the road. Verma et al. (2017) state, “Nurses must be involved in the earlier stages of the software development cycle to have an efficient system that translates the language of health into the software being used. Implementation and adoption of such systems require the identification of champions or problem solvers. Yet nurses are still portrayed as professionals unwilling to adopt technology readily, which causes another hurdle for their involvement in this process.” (pg. 205-206).
I have yet to be involved in selecting and planning new health information technology systems. However, we have nurses on staff who help implement new technology in our EHR. These nurses then come to each department and educate the team on the implementation to help transition earlier. This helps immensely because they know which areas the staff members need to understand how to navigate, making the transition smoother. In an article written by Joseph et al. (2022), “A dynamic evaluative approach could ensure that safe and usable technologies are procured and implemented into healthcare settings” (pg. 283).
NURS 6051 Discussion Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists
Main Post: The Role of the Informatics Specialist in Healthcare
Nursing data, when properly collected and interpreted, can be used to improve the productivity, efficiency, performance, efficacy, cost, and value of nursing care (Mosier et al., 2018). With the surge in health technologies over the past decades, the creation of knowledge through digital data collection and information processing has become an important focus within the field of nursing informatics (NI). This discussion post will describe technology and informatics-related interactions at this author’s current place of employment and in a past circumstance. A suggestion of how nursing informatics roles could be improved and expanded on is included.
Reflections
The author of this post works in a large urban women’s health clinic where both obstetric and gynecological services are provided. There are 11 registered nurses (RNs) on the staff roster, with six nurses on staff at the clinic each day. The clinic and the umbrella medical group to which this clinic belongs do not have a NI team or individual. However, the lead clinic RN at the women’s clinic is an Epic superuser and has expressed her interest in someday pursuing a specialized certification in NI. As an Epic superuser, this nurse fulfills some of the roles of a NI, but lacks the formal training and education a certified nurse informaticist possesses (Nagle et al., 2017). Staff nurses and other medical personnel can ask this Epic superuser for help navigating and accessing data within the charting system. This superuser can even tackle smaller data management projects like creating patient tracking lists within the electronic health record. Minor issues can be addressed by the superuser during the day, while large systems concerns are generally addressed at nursing staff meetings. To be clear, there is not a formal process or policy in place for these interactions.
During a clinical rotation at the Children’s Hospital in Denver, Colorado, the author of this post vividly remembers a positive encounter with the hospital’s nurse informaticist. There was a patient with a gastrostomy-jejunostomy, where continuous tube feedings (TFs) ran through the jejunum portion; the gastric hub was not in use and scheduled for regular water flushes. The charting system had a simple tube feeding section, but it did not break the TFs into different sections for appropriate documentation of the various interventions being administered through each portion. Luckily for the floor nurse, the nurse informaticist was doing rounds on the unit that day, so the nurse was able to discuss her concerns with the informaticist directly. The informaticist listened to the floor nurse’s concerns, and then the two nurses together investigated the charting system to see what potential changes could be made. The nurse manager was also briefly pulled over to be updated on the situation and offer input. While this author does not know the final outcome, it was inspiring to see a team of clinical experts, nurse leaders, and technology experts come together to help improve nursing workflow and patient safety.
Suggestions for the Future
The NI role is important because it combines nursing and technology science to improve patient care, safety, and workflow (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018). With only 11 RNs on staff at the clinic, creating a full-time NI position specifically for the women’s clinic may not be reasonable. However, the medical group, which embodies half a dozen outpatient clinics, could create a NI position to severe all the clinics collectively. This way, nursing technology processes that prove successful in one clinic could be adopted and amended to serve the other clinics as needed.
In addition to adding a nurse informaticist to the medical group roster, another suggestion to improve staff interactions with nursing informaticists or technology experts is through nurse leadership. According to Mosier et al. (2018), nurse leaders can positively impact the integration of clinical experts, technology experts, informaticists when tackling nursing informatics projects within hospital systems. Executive nurse leadership helps to organize, design, and influence nursing informatics solutions. This study highlights the importance of upper-level nurse leadership to oversee and improve NI interactions. Leadership is crucial; staff with their own workloads cannot always be expected to coordinate NI projects. For example, in the women’s clinic, the nursing manager or supervisor could help create a defined platform for which informaticists and nursing staff can interact. Perhaps a nurse informaticist could make rounds at the clinic on pre-scheduled days, or nurses from the various clinics can be invited to spend time at the informatics office to facilitate collaboration.
Impact of Continued Nursing Informatics and Technology Development
The continued emergence of new technologies within healthcare will have an immense impact on professional interactions. For the purpose of this discussion, professional interactions are interactions between colleagues or interactions between health staff and their patients. In the future, electronic health systems will become more data intensive, but also more user-friendly. Some experts hypothesize that eventually, clinicians will be able to plug patient data into health technology systems, then those systems will produce the most likely diagnoses and patient interventions (Laurate Education, 2018).
While these systems will not replace the role of doctors and nurses, they will cause the clinician to spend more time using technology. As a result, this author foresees two important outcomes. First, clinicians will need to become more tech-savvy, and nursing informatics will play a more prominent role in health facilities. Staff interactions with NI specialists will become more commonplace, and nurse informaticists will need to develop and hone project management skills to successfully guide this transition (Sipes, 2016). At hospitals, a nurse informaticist might be on-call around the clock for support and problem-solving. A second impact that the emergence of new technologies may have on professional interactions is related to the art of caring. The art of caring refers to a caregiver’s intentional promotion of recovery and wellness and recognition of inherent personal value and feelings of connectedness (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018, Chapter 25). Nursing’s core values are rooted in caring for the health and wellbeing of others. Nursing care must not become dehumanized; it is essential personal interactions such as touch, intentional listening, therapeutic communication, and mindfulness are not removed from this profession. More training may be needed to help caregivers balance the ever-evolving use of technology at the bedside without losing the personal touches and expressions of connectedness that are the building blocks of this profession.
References
Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Health informatics and population health: Trends in population health [Video file]. Walden University Blackboard Nurs6051. https://class.content.laureate.net/f5055760e0020de1c3cc4b123b669695.html#section_container_20
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Mosier, S., Roberts, W. D., & Englebright, J. (2019). A systems-level method for developing nursing informatics solutions: The role of executive leadership. The Journal of Nursing Administration, 49(11), 543-548. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000815.
Nagle, L., Sermeus, W., & Junger, A. (2017). Evolving role of the nursing informatics specialist. Forecasting Competencies for Nurses in the Future of Connected Health, 232, 212–221. https://doi.org/10.3233/978-1-61499-738-2-212
Sipes, C. (2016). Project management: Essential skill of nurse informaticists. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 225, 252-256. https://doi.org/0.3233/978-1-61499-658-3-252