Writing Homework Help

Please respond to the following discussion using 100 words and 2 references

In research from McGonigle and Mastrian (2017), Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a way to deliver efficient and effective information systems (IS) that fit with the strategic business plan of an organization. The consequences of not including nurses during the stages of the SDLC can be disastrous. Non-clinical programmers do not know what is necessary for patient care and if it works in emergency situations. The nurse needs to be included in design and buying situations because nurses are the ones that will be the primary user of its functionality. The main consequence is the technology that doesn’t work correctly and flow well.

Nurses are needed at all stages of the SDLC for potential issues. In research from Singletary and Baker (2019), there are eight stages of the SDLC. The first is the initiation and concept phase, and a potential issue is not finding the proper information system (IS) for the organization. Nurses would help by being able to work with the IS for proper functionally. The second is the planning phase, and a potential issue is not having an appropriate date of the milestone. A nurse would help by looking at the census data and finding a good time to make the IS transition. The third stage is requirements, and a potential issue would be missing an important aspect of documenting patient care. A nurse could help with making sure each existing process is carried over to the new IS. Stage four is design and development, and many issues can occur here with missing necessary charting systems and poor flow. A nurse would surely ensure that all required charting be put into the new system and have a good flow for documentation. The fifth stage is testing, and the main issue is bad functionally. Nurses would address this by rigorously testing the new IS for form and being a functional charting system. Training and implementation are the sixth stage, and issues of poor training of employees may arise. Nurses need to have super users and be able to learn the system accordingly. Operations and maintenance are the seventh stage, and one issue would be not updating the software or not fixing errors. Nurses should be able to address the issue by notifying the designers of problems with the system. The final eighth stage is the disposition, and one issue is not correctly moving data from the old to the new system. Nurses would address this issue by having superusers make sure the legacy data is transitioned correctly. In research from McLean et al. (2015), a study confirmed that a high number of nurses contributed to the healthcare IT acquisition decisions.

My organization did not give me any input during the transition into the new EPIC EHR. I was used as a superuser during the training and implementation stage. One impact of not being used is working in the emergency department for nearly a decade would give some clarity into what custom entry methods would need to go in the EHR as opposed to the new hire that took the job. The emergency department managers were the only ones who had any input into the process which none of them had any recent bedside experience. This can lead to missing vital charting portions of the EPIC-specific emergency charting system.

Resources

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. (2017). Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of Knowledge. In Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of Knowledge (4th ed., p. 176). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

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

Singletary, V., & Baker, E. L. (2019). Building Informatics-Savvy Health Departments: The Systems Development Life Cycle. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 25(6), 610–611. https://doi.org/10.1097/phh.0000000000001086