coursework-banner

NURS 6051 Portfolio Assignment: The Role Of The Nurse Informaticist In Systems Development And Implementation

NURS 6051 Portfolio Assignment: The Role of the Nurse Informaticist in Systems Development and Implementation

Click here to ORDER NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT: NURS 6051 Portfolio Assignment: The Role of the Nurse Informaticist in Systems Development and

 

Adopting healthcare technology requires the input of all involved stakeholders. Essential members of the team are nurses. Nurses have intimate knowledge of the shortcomings of paper records and numerous time spent on clinical documentation. The providers are involved in patient intake, information management efforts, and understand that well-designed IT systems make workflows efficient (Akhu‐Zaheya et al., 2019). The current organization intends to adopt a new nursing documentation system. To make the system usable and acceptable to nurses, a nurse leader has to be part of the implementation team. The purpose of this paper is to articulate the role of the nurse leader in line with the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) stages.

System Development Life Cycle Stages

The system development life cycle is a model that outlines the various stages that must be completed to bring a project from start to finish. It is critical to follow the stages when implementing a nursing documentation system in order to maximize its effectiveness. Planning and requirement definition are followed by analysis, new system design, implementation, and post-implementation support. Because requirements are converted into design and design aids in the creation of code, the results of each stage guide the implementation of the next stage (Lalband & Kavitha, 2019). The results of the implementation stage are then authenticated in the final stage. According to AkhuZaheya et al. (2019), it is critical to include nurses in the development of a clinical documentation system that improves interprofessional communication, clinical outcomes, and patient care. The participation necessitates a clear definition of nurse roles at each stage of the SDLC.

The Role of the Nurse Informaticist in Systems Development and Implementation

Health information technology has been part of the current healthcare system for more than a decade by now. With recent advancements in technology, new information systems are being implemented in healthcare organizations. The implementation process requires an interdisciplinary team comprising of nurse leaders and technology specialists, to enhance change outcomes. The technology specialists have a better understanding of the new technology. In the same case, nurses are experts in their field with a better understanding of the flow of patient care and frequent interaction with other healthcare providers to promote the provision of quality and safe care (Al-Hawamdih, & Ahmad, 2018). As such, it is essential for the nurse leader to understand the new technology and for the technology specialist to familiarize with how the new equipment or software will need to interface with the facility’s existing systems. Involving nurse leaders in the implementation of changes is however associated with both benefits and challenges as demonstrated in this paper.

Planning and Requirements Definition

The system development life cycle (SDLC), is a project management tool that defines the stages involved in change implementation from planning to completion. The SDLC phases include planning, system analysis, design, development, implementation, integration, testing, and operations management (Verma & Gupta, 2017). In the planning process, the nurse leader plays a significant role in determining the health problem that needs change and how the change can be implemented to promote outcome. However, it might be challenging for the organization as additional costs will be required to fund the training of the nurse leader on required computer and informatics skills.

NURS 6051 Portfolio Assignment: The Role of the Nurse Informaticist in Systems Development and Implementation

According to the media introduction to this module, you, as a nurse, play a critical role in the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Nurses may not always view themselves as contributors to the development of new systems due to their focus on patient care and outcomes. However, as you may have observed in your own experience, leaving nurse contributions out of system implementation can have dire consequences.

Click here to ORDER NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT: NURS 6051 Portfolio Assignment: The Role of the Nurse Informaticist in Systems Development and

The Role of the Nurse Informaticist in Systems Development and Implementation

Involving nurses in new technologies integration is always a profound step towards ensuring that they are conversant with system changes and embrace new technologies. Nurses, as majority end-users, should be engaged throughout the systems development life cycle (SDLC) since the successful implementation of new technologies depends on the extent of their engagement (McLean et al., 2015). For a graduate-level nurse to participate and make a positive impact, it is vital to understand what should be done at every stage of the SDLC, and the roles of the nurse vary from one step to the other.

Thank you for your response. This brings to mind King James Bible/New Living Translation 2005, Luke 8:17; For all that is secret will eventually turn to light. I was in Nursing school and happen to be tutoring a nursing student that was a class or two behind me. The student was prepared to take her med-surgical exam; we had reviewed the pathophysiology so that she would be able to look at, for example, be given a scenario regarding a patient’s lab values and know if the patient was in metabolic acidosis. We reviewed the ability to think critically. Prior to her taking the test we, both felt confident that she would pass. Day later she called and asked to come over and when she arrived, she was distraught. I was dumb founded; she explained that she had taken the exam, but it did not go very well because she decided to cheat. A couple of her classmates reassured her that they had the answers to the exam; She did not even read the exam to use anything that we had reviewed as far a critically thinking and using pathophysiology, lab values, and so on to arrive at the answers. I was upset that she had taken up hours and days of my time to prepare for an exam and she just totally threw everything out the window and just put down answers. The class prior to hers had aced the exam, but the instructor and the Director of the Nursing department reviewed the class trends and knew that the class prior to her class should not have scored that many A’s. Therefore, the test was changed and the test that my friend took was different from the one the prior class had taken. On top of that she had to speak with the Director of the Nursing department and was expelled from the program. She needed to at least pass with a C to remain in the program. The class prior had students that were also expelled as well as the students that were in her class. I only knew about this as she confided in me regarding the situation; otherwise, the was emphasis in my class to make sure that all the concepts were understood; if not ask questions during/after lecture and because in clinical we were taking care of patients and need to know why we were administering some as simple as a vitamin E and the side effects. In my practice I have been conscientious regarding patient care. In the Neonatal Intensive Care everything we gave during the time I worked in the unit was doubled checked. If it did not fit into a 1cc syringe it was triple checked.

Planning and Requirements Definition

Implementing a new nursing documentation system can be viewed as a project. As the initial step, planning obliges the implementation team to develop a project plan that defines the scope and deliverables of the project (Singletary & Baker, 2017). Central to the implementation of the system is composing the requirements document. The nurse’s role in the initial phases is checking whether the critical plan elements have been included. It is also crucial to propose ways that ensure that the intended change streamlines the current processes and improves efficiency.

Analysis

The analysis step examines the effectiveness of existing technologies. It looks at what works and what should be avoided. As the end-users of health information technologies, nurses should provide details concerning the challenges and benefits of using the current systems. Their contribution implies that they can show how the new system should respond to nurses’ immediate needs.

Design of the New System

In this step, the implementation team develops a plan for improving the current system, as recommended in the analysis phase. The most relevant components of the proposed system should be identified while describing how they can integrate into an efficient whole (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015). The nurse participates by submitting the necessary operational mechanisms that the new documentation system should incorporate to enhance performance. Nurses should take part in ongoing testing and refining. Involving nurses would ensure that the new system will be responsive to nurses’ data input and output needs.

Implementation

Implementation is a critical step in making system changes. It is the stage where the new technology is put into application (Sengstack & Boicey, 2015). Nurses are usually trained to ensure that they can optimize the new system in providing quality services. A nurse’s role is to provide insights regarding the necessary changes in workflow, policies, and procedures in applying the new technology. The immediate impact of nurses’ participation is coming up with a system that fits the organizational practice and culture.

Post-Implementation Support

The main element of post-implementation is systems maintenance and support. Nurses should be involved in identifying and fixing problems that hinder the new system’s efficiency. After implementation, health care facilities should work closely with system developers to ensure that it is working as expected.  As this happens, the nurse should be identifying and reporting bugs that affect the functionality of the new technology. Involving nurses at this level helps to initiate corrective and preventive measures.

Conclusion

Nurses are at the core of new technology implementation in health care facilities. Their involvement forms an integral part of the SDLC. They can help identify the new system’s needs based on the benefits and problems experienced using the current system. As they give insights, the entire implementation team gets information that directs it in the analysis, design, and other critical phases of system development and implementation. Overall, the successful implementation of new technology, such as the documentation system, relies primarily on nurses’ commitment.

References

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (Eds.). (2015). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

McLean, A., Frisch, N., & Roudsari, A. (2015). Nursing’s Voice in Healthcare IT Acquisition Decisions. Canadian Journal of Nursing Informatics, 10(3), 1-24. http://cjni.net/journal/?p=4248

Sengstack, P., & Boicey, C. (2015). Mastering Informatics: A Heatlhcare Handbook for Success. Sigma Theta Tau.

Singletary, V., & Baker, E. L. (2019). Building Informatics-Savvy Health Departments: The Systems Development Life Cycle. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice25(6), 610-611. https://www.nursingcenter.com/journalarticle?Article_ID=5132570&Journal_ID=420959&Issue_ID=5131449

 

Examples of potential challenges at each level of the SDLC and how the participation of nurses may assist in addressing these issues Then, describe whether you had any input in the selection and design of new health information technology systems in your nursing practice or healthcare organization, as well as the potential consequences of being included or excluded from the decision-making process. Provide specifics and instances. NURS 6051 Portfolio Project: The Nurse Informaticist’s Role in System Development and Implementation

The Function of the Nurse Informaticist in the Design and Implementation of Systems

According to McGonigle and Mastrian, the system development life cycle (SDLC) is a paradigm used to plan and implement organizational changes (2017). The primary motivation for implementing the system development life cycle is to develop and deploy new health information technologies for project management. The paper will describe the role of a graduate-level nurse in guiding participants through the SDLC phases of the execution process.
Nurse managers are responsible for assessing the benefits and drawbacks of establishing teams for health information technology. Nurse administrators, for example, must ensure that the new system is operational and useful (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). As a result, nurse managers play a more important role in assisting the SDLC by synthesizing the technologies required to provide better healthcare.
The first stage of the software development life cycle (SDLC) is planning, which includes providing overall project guidance and thus influencing the outcome of subsequent stages. Graduate-level nurses contribute to the investigation and selection of potential solutions, the creation of the project schedule and timeframe, the definition of the project’s scope and challenges, the start of the project, and the integration of the necessary resources (Laureate Education, 2018). As a result, their primary responsibility is to work with the team to complete the aforementioned tasks. The graduate-level nurse develops project objectives and sets attainable goals by utilizing clinical understanding of the process and workflow, as well as critical thinking skills. During the most critical time, the clinical nursing perspective aids in the development of a safe and effective system.
The graduate-level nurse prioritizes the need, makes recommendations to management, and assesses and develops potential solutions during the analysis phase.

Notably, a project is likely to fail if data loss, communication breakdown, and project delays occur (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). The analysis phase involves communication, decision-making, and workflow process analysis, hence generating software, personnel, and hardware needs for efficient information management (Verma & Gupta, 2017).
The participation of graduate-level nurses is determined by the review pertinent to the organization transformation and policies required to adapt new technologies and new work procedures.
Graduate-level nurses play a crucial role in the design phase of the SDLC. For example, they ensure the correct program definition and functioning based on data retrieval, processing, and user interface (Verma & Gupta, 2017). Therefore, the graduate-level nurse’s primary responsibility is to increase patient safety and play a crucial role in achieving the system’s primary objective. In addition, graduate-level nurses contribute to the system’s customization by offering clinical verdict support likely to enhance performance.
During the stage of implementation, the team modifies its engagement with nurses in order to install and test the new system. Therefore, graduate-level nurses assist with system maintenance, result evaluation, and staff education (Bird, 2017). In addition, they aid in collecting user feedback, which is crucial to the SDLC implementation process for optimizing and customizing health information technology (Mckay & Vanaskie, 2018). Performing safety rounds is the most effective technique for identifying workflow and system problems.
The graduate-level nurse’s responsibility in the third step, post-implementation support, is to provide proper training, comprehend the technology and its ramifications, and ensure that healthcare staff accepts and complies with the new system. The primary objective is to ensure staff adherence to practice, hence increasing patient satisfaction. The nurses determine whether the new baby is healthy system generates expectedly beneficial consequences (Verma & Gupta, 2017). In addition, they are in a position to propose the best course of action for making the new system more applicable and practical.
In the last step of advising the emerging team on the need to enhance patient needs, graduate-level nurses can play a beneficial role in directing the team.
In conclusion, the primary purpose for adopting the system development life cycle is to create and implement innovative health information technologies. In healthcare, nurse managers have a larger role in aiding the SDLC by synthesizing the essential technology. Graduate-level nurses play a part in investigating and selecting potential solutions, calculating the project schedule and timeframe, defining the project’s scope and challenges, initiating the project, and integrating the necessary resources. The analysis phase comprises communication, decision-making, and workflow analysis, hence generating software, personnel, and hardware needs for effective information management. In the last step of advising the emerging team on the need to enhance patient needs, graduate-level nurses can play a beneficial role in directing the team.

References

Bird, P. (2017). Implementation support: a typical day for a nurse informatician. 2(2) of the Journal of Informatics in Nursing
https://search.proquest.com/openview/1d006da9c7395b2a6818c9a23b7040a7/1?pq-\sorigsite=gscholar&cbl=2044826
Honorable Education (Producer). (2018). Health Information Technology Management [Video file].
Author, Baltimore, Maryland.
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the knowledge foundation (4th ed.). Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Learning, Burlington.
McKay, C., & Vanaskie, K. (2018). Partnering for success: The nurse leader’s involvement in the introduction of health information technology for care coordination. Nurse Leader, 16(6), 385–388. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2018.07.012
Verma, M. P., & Gupta, S. (2017). Nursing Informatics’ Role in Software Development for Nursing The International Journal of Nursing Education and Research, 5(2), pp. 203–207.
https://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:ijner
&volume=5&issue=2
&article=\s019

RE: Discussion – Week 9