BY DAY 6 OF WEEK 9
Respond to at least two of your colleagues * on two different days, by offering additional thoughts regarding the examples shared, SDLC-related issues, and ideas on how the inclusion of nurses might have impacted the example described by your colleagues.
RESPONSE1
The system development life cycle is a predecessor of innovations enhancing efficiency in the healthcare setting. It is significant to involve the nurses at every stage of SDLC. This will help bring them on board with the innovative changes, an important factor for an organization's success. Changes related to the implementation of the SDLC are affected in cases the nurses are not included in the preliminary stages o planning for the change (O'Cathain et al., 2019). The effects of the lack of nurses' involvement in the innovation include poorly designed projects as the design and planning are conducted without the input of the end users. This can contribute to the project's failure as it fails to meet the nurses' needs.
In cases the nurses are involved, they can provide their views and input on the best way to ensure the implementation is adequate and, thus, a better design. Nurses will aso ensure that the system is mutually beneficial to the population and the organization. Failure to involve nurses in the purchasing and implementation of the technology, pertinent issues can fail to be identified (Dopp et al., 2019). The phases of planning, analysis, design, implementation, and maintenance can lack to be successful as the nurses are the major witnesses of how the whole process can be laid out.
In the analysis and design phases, the nurse can ensure that the plan is suitable and based on evidence. If they are not involved, then th plan can fail as it is not based on evidence. Additionally, the nursing staff can maintain the system's effectiveness after every evaluation. The nurses are also aware of any issues the system may be having and thus talk to the parties involved in solving the problems. If the nurses are not involved, it is possible to miss a significant area of repair (Risling & Risling, 2020). For instance, I was involved in maintaining and evaluating information technology. I identified an issue with the technology, which helped to solve the issue which could have damaged the entire technology.
References
Dopp, A. R., Parisi, K. E., Munson, S. A., & Lyon, A. R. (2019). Integrating implementation and user-centred design strategies to enhance the impact of health services: protocol from a concept mapping study. Health research policy and systems, 17(1), 1-11.
O'Cathain, A., Croot, L., Duncan, E., Rousseau, N., Sworn, K., Turner, K. M., … & Hoddinott, P. (2019). Guidance on how to develop complex interventions to improve health and healthcare. BMJ open, 9(8), e029954.
Risling, T. L., & Risling, D. E. (2020). Advancing nursing participation in user-centred design. Journal of research in nursing : JRN, 25(3), 226–238. https://doi.org/10.1177/1744987120913590
RESPONSE 2
A software development life cycle (SDLC) is a framework describing all activities in a software development process from identification to implementation (McGonigle & Martian, 2021). Suppose nurses are not involved in each phase of the SDLC process. In that case, the result may be an inefficient system that takes time away from patient care, adds to the workload, and disrupts communication between patients and providers.
Planning and needs analysis
Nurses must be involved in the initial stages to help the designers understand the user's needs. Early use of nurses in this phase ensures a better product that is clinically relevant by identifying areas of improvement for quality patient care. One example would be a translation of standard operating procedures to prevent medication errors to IT technologists(Verma & Gupta, 2017). Nurses can review the goals and priorities, thus providing valuable project oversight.
Design
For a design to be successful, it needs to be easy to understand, requires minimal effort, be clinically relevant, and provide easily retrievable information. The user is the best person to decide if technology is user-friendly; therefore, involving the nurse in the design phase will enhance the user's experience (Verma & Gupta, 2017). Nurses can define nursing language and the scope of nursing practice, thus enhancing IT's ability to integrate technology into practice. In addition to aiding with the standardization of terminology, nurses involved in the design process can provide early identification of things that are working well and challenges that may prevent the success of a program.
Implementation and maintenance
The final steps in the SDLC process are implementation and maintenance. Early nursing involvement aids in the successful implementation of the project by recruiting buy-in and assuring awareness early in the process (Kildea et al., 2019). As the end user, the nurse's involvement in this phase comprises testing the effectiveness of the design and identifying unintended consequences (Risling & Risling, 2020).
My experience in practice
My hospital uses Meditech. Frontline users were not involved in the design stage of the program. Frontline users were trained as super users in the implementation process. One result of the lack of input in the system's functionality is the absence of a miscellaneous order option or a comment section for generic orders. Without this option, our orders lack the details necessary to perform tasks as intended. In our system, a wound patient can be ordered a generic order that says to perform wound care. It does not provide an area to place frequency, type of care, and product to be used. This lack of communication may lead to improper healing, which is detrimental to patients and costly to the hospital.
References
Kildea, J., Battista, J., Cabral, B., Hendren, L., Herrera, D., Hijal, T., & Joseph, A. (2019). Design and development of a person-centered patient portal using participatory stakeholder co-design. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(2), e11371.
McGonigle, D., & Martian, K. (2021). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (5th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Risling, T. L., & Risling, D. E. (2020). Advancing nursing participation in user-centered design. Journal of Research in Nursing, 25(3), 226–238.
Verma, M., & Gupta, S. (2017). Software development for nursing: Role of nursing informatics. International Journal of Nursing Education and Research, 5(2), 203.
