Post a description of what you believe to be the consequences of a healthcare organization not involving nurses in each stage of the SDLC when purchasing and implementing a new health information technology system. Provide specific examples of potential issues at each stage of the SDLC and explain how the inclusion of nurses may help address these issues.

The inclusion of Nurses in the System Development Life Cycle

ANSWER

Introduction

The Systems Development Cycle is a continuous life cycle that strives to create a highly effective and efficient information system that fits within an organization’s business plan. The Systems Development Life Cycle in the health sector includes a needs assessment of an organization that includes both ancillary professions and physicians. It adheres to the waterfall paradigm, in which one phase flows into the next and comprises six phases: feasibility, analysis, design implementation, testing, and maintenance. Because nurses make up 55% of the total health workforce, they must be included in every phase of the SDLC; otherwise, a system that does not meet the needs of an organization can be produced (McGonagall & Mastrian, 2015). This article explores the potential ramifications that a healthcare organization may experience if nurses are not involved in all stages of the SDLC while purchasing or implementing a new HIT system. It also discusses how including nurses can assist in addressing some of the concerns.

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Consequences of Not Involving Nurses at Every Stage of the SDLC and How Nurse Inclusion Can Help Address These Issues

An economical, operational, legal, and timetable feasibility (TELOS) analysis is typically undertaken throughout the SDLC of a new HIT. Failure to include nurses in the feasibility phase can result in the development of an inadequate system that does not cover all of the staff’s demands. Nurses spend more time with patients and have more excellent bedside experiences, so they are better positioned to determine what is likely or unlikely to be helpful. As a result, any designed HIT system will almost surely fail to improve patient care (McGonagall & Mastrian, 2015).

The workflows and needs of a new HIT system are explored during the analysis phases. Nurses are patient managers who work with other healthcare providers to manage patients. This implies they have a better awareness of the workflow and responsibilities of every patient care team member. As a result, failing to engage nurses in the analysis phase can result in a system with no positive workflow or actual workflow input (McGonagall & Mastrian, 2015). 

The design phase includes techniques such as interface design and data design, which describe how programs will be displayed and the data that will be required—nurses input and output the most patient data since they engage with patients at every step of treatment. As a result, they have a better awareness of the most critical and non-critical patient data required at each treatment point. Failure to engage nurses in the design phase increases the likelihood that vital data will be overlooked, and the final product produced may be inefficient to use, consuming much time, or failing to capture all necessary information (Thomas, Seifert & Joyner, 2016)

A design is brought to life during the implementation phase, and programming needs are decided based on application requirements. When nurses are not participating in this phase, it might form an unfamiliar and unhelpful system that may render clinical care non-functional. According to Zytkowsi et al. (2015), when nurses understand the system and how it works, they can traverse it and even assist other professionals who may be having problems.

The testing process is critical because it ensures that all IT resources work as planned and that the system executes its job correctly. When nurses are not involved in testing, the system may pass this phase while unwittingly failing to support other patient care responsibilities, causing it to fail to function correctly. The maintenance phase includes user support, which software modifications can accomplish over time. When nurses are not involved in maintenance, any changes can cause system operation delays, leading to delays in patient care (Daly, 2015).

Selection and Planning of a New HIT in My Healthcare Organization, as well as the Potential Impacts of Being Involved in Decision Making

During the development and deployment of the HIT system in my healthcare organization, management made every effort to include nurses at every stage of the SDLC. The engagement of nurses proved beneficial since some of them could identify design and communication issues that could negatively influence clinical care delivery and patient safety (Zytkowsi et al., 2015). Despite the inclusion of nurses, there was a need to rethink workflows in the emergency departmen

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