Role of Nurse Informaticist Systems Development Implementation

Introduction

Nurse Informaticists (NIs) are responsible for who develop nursing systems in planning and implementing computerized nursing systems. NIs ought to assist computer technocrats with analyzing issues, and put forward a computerized solution with desired results. SDLC (System Development Life Cycle) represents discrete steps followed by system developers for designing, troubleshooting and executing systems needed by clients (McGonigle and Mastrian, 2015). Within the healthcare domain, system development encompasses needs evaluation that involves doctors and other healthcare practitioners, legal aspects, environmental challenges, and technological elements impacting the domain of healthcare.

Planning and requirements definition

Planning represents the ideal instrument for guaranteeing the success of all operations. The nursing leader within the context of system development presents system developers with the intended system plan. Developers ought to then utilize the details available for planning the ideal system development strategy (Massey and Satao, 2012). Defining of requirements entails identification of the required elements for formulating the desired output. NIs ought to give desired system inputs wherefrom system developers plan system coding (McCormick and Saba, 2015).

SDLC offers a procedural strategy for resolving issues, which facilitates the creation of the ideal computer system for resolving extant and future issues at minimal cost and time (Massey and Satao, 2012). Currently, the issue is: coming up with an impactful and appropriate nurse documentation system for resolving the within healthcare. Here, nursing leadership will contribute significantly to guiding system developers across different system development phases (Massey and Satao, 2012). The requirement determination and planning step will entail determination of overall organizational requirements and formulating solutions for fulfilling those requirements. Nursing staff will have a pivotal part to play in developing organizational information systems. They constitute the greatest majority of healthcare workers, with maximum interaction with patients. Hence, their participation is imperative to system success (McGonigle and Mastrian, 2015). Nursing staff ought to participate in all stages of the system development cycle, for ensuring effective results that are beneficial to patients. Nursing leadership involvement is necessary, as the nursing leader is aware of what the ultimate solution ought to be like. System developers would have to utilize reverse systems development for ascertaining what most inputs ought to be prior to commencing development. Nursing staff can make computer programmers aware of (McCormick and Saba, 2015).

The phase of feasibility study helps determine system applicability and value to clients. Client requirements, prospects, and aims/ goals are delineated. Resource identification and cost ascertainment forms part of the (Mcgonigle & Mastrian, 2015). NI leadership must highlight system aims and requirements in relation to system development expense for determining system utility index (SUI) (McCormick and Saba, 2015).

Analysis

The stage of system analysis establishes system processes and workflows. System developers ascertain whether or not it is possible for them to fulfil the needs articulated by the client, followed by assessing all major process- related changes (Massey and Satao, 2012). Nursing staff can be of help when it comes to ascertaining what works well in the extant nursing operations system; they can discuss these aspects with system developers and offer their recommendations on what must be retained, omitted, or added. NIs may engage in brainstorming with system developers on how to fulfil system requirements (McGonigle and Mastrian, 2015).

Design of the new system

The system design stage aims at ascertaining the system’s general feel and appearance. The design team determines the information needed. Screenshots, copies, prototypes, and reports may be created for establishing potential glitches in the system (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015). NIs can examine flowcharts for determining whether or not the correct execution path is being followed and the desired results are being shown (McCormick and Saba, 2015).

Implementation

At the system implementation step, the right coding language is utilized for coding designs (Massey and Satao, 2012). NIs with programming basics may be invited to review coded flowcharts, as well as troubleshoot the system, particularly in case of a wrong output (McCormick and Saba, 2015).

Post- implementation support

The final phase of system development is its testing and maintenance (Massey and Satao, 2012). System developers ought to undertake testing of the system developed on delivering it to clients. The appropriate output ought to be generated by the system, and all issues the NI formulates ought to be solved. NIs are responsible for deciding whether or not the system output is consistent with the requirements of the healthcare system (McCormick and Saba, 2015). Further, systems ought to possess the capabilities of capturing, storing and performing various other nursing documentation functions. The NI ought to train fellow nursing practitioners on system usage in the event it is decided upon that the system developer won’t be assuming that responsibility. The NI ought to, further, supervise organization- wide system integration (McCormick and Saba, 2015). Nursing leadership must inform the system developer of all necessary system changes during maintenance.

Conclusion

Information technology has a significant part to play in the present healthcare domain (Massey and Satao, 2012). Isolating the function of nursing documentation, this paper explores the need for a sound system for resolving the nurse information maintenance mystery that proves pivotal to successful healthcare system implementation. SDLC processes have addressed the burdensomeness of manual data handling by nurses. Nevertheless, it is essential to include NIs in the development of nursing documentation systems as they are in a good position to understand the issues and the proposed or required solution.

References

Massey, V., & Satao, K. J. (2012). Evolving a new software development life cycle model (SDLC) incorporated with release management. International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology (IJEAT), 1(4).

McCormick, K., & Saba, V. (2015). Essentials of nursing informatics. McGraw-Hill Education.

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2015). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.