The Role of the Nurse in Systems Development and Implementation (SDCL)

            The Role of the Nurse in Systems Development and Implementation (SDCL)

The System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) refers to the stages involved during the development of new systems (Hardyanto et al., 2017). Nursing documentation refers to a system that contains information about the care and interventions provided to patients. Nursing documentation needs to be accurately and thoroughly prepared to avoid cases of mistakes. The process of designing and creating a documentation system for a health unit is a difficult task. This process involves stages like processing, designing, implementation, and post-implementation support (Hardyanto et al., 2017). A highly qualified team is required to develop such a system to be used in a hospital setting. A nurse leader also plays a big role in this process. The nurse leader helps act as a bridge between the health unit and the development team by providing information about the requirements of the unit. A collaboration of both parties is necessary for the development of appropriate software.

The Planning Stage

The planning stage is where the development team takes the chance to develop a design plot for the upcoming project. This stage requires defining the problem that the system is meant to find solutions to. The graduate nurse’s role in this stage is to work hand in hand with the development team. The graduate nurse is important in this stage are they have first-hand information about some of the problems faced in the unit. The nurse graduate will work with the team to develop solutions that best fit the problem at hand and the resources available and come up with a timeline (Langer, 2016). The nurse graduate also helps develop the objectives and goals of the system by acting as a bridge between the team and the unit by providing the clinical perspective to the project.

Analysis

It is at the analysis stage that the team creates the prototype of the system. This prototype is developed by gathering and combining all the information at the planning stage. The graduate nurse works with the team to help identify projects requirements. The nurse can also help develop and assess other alternatives to the project. This stage requires the team to have the right research and analysis about the requirements of the uses. The nurse’s role here is to assess this analysis to assist in coming up with accurate results. The team should also know the system’s technical requirements regarding hardware, software, space, and staffing. This phase needs accurate workflow, communication processes, and decision-making used in the particular unit. The nurse plays a big role in collecting and analyzing this data to avoid chances of mistakes (Cui et al., 2018). Failing to accomplish these tasks accurately can lead to delays, or errors, data loss.

Design

The design stage comes before the software is developed. At this stage, all the requirements, including the specifications features and the operations of the desired software, are combined. At this stage, the nurse graduate’s role is to determine whether the features and operations selected and configured by the team fit the functional requirements of the unit. The nurse can also give suggestions for customizing the software (Cui et al., 2018). The systems development can choose to create one or more designs at this stage. The nurse and teamwork analyze parameters like the risks, budget, time, and technologies used to select the best design for the project.

Implementation

Implementation of the software occurs after the design process is complete and the right software is selected. This process involves coding the software according to the requirements of the unit. The database admins in the team help create data in the database while the front-end developers take charge of establishing the interface. The development team also conducts necessary tests on the software before deploying the software to the users. The graduate nurse works with the development team to customize, test and install the new software (Cui et al., 2018). The nurse is also in charge of training the rest of the staff, ensuring the system goes through regular maintenance, giving reports of outcomes. The nurse helps collect and report feedback from the users to the developers. The feedback gives information on whether the software is suitable or other possibilities of customization.

Post Implementation Support

The post-implementation support stage involves working on any issues that the end-users identify as they use the software. The development team is in charge of customizing and fixing these issues. Maintenance stages can occur in several steps depending on the size of the software. The nurse plays a big role in this stage as the use and acceptance of the software depends on them. The nurse continues to train other staff and help them understand how to use the software. The nurse also has the responsibility of reporting any cases that need maintenance and customization to ensure satisfaction and acceptance by the users.

Conclusion 

System Development life cycle takes place in several stages. Each stage helps the development team find out how to identify requirements for the necessary software according to the particular unit involved. The nurse leader plays a big role in the process of implementing new software in the unit. The nurse and development team work together to produce cost-effective, efficient, and high-quality software. The nurse leader helps provide necessary information and feedback that helps the developers establish and create the right software programs that best suit the health unit’s needs.

References

Cui, F., Ma, L., Hou, G., Pang, Z., Hou, Y., & Li, L. (2018). Development of smart nursing homes using systems engineering methodologies in industry 4.0. Enterprise Information Systems, 14(4), 463-479. https://doi.org/10.1080/17517575.2018.1536929

Hardyanto, W., Purwinarko, A., Sujito, F., Masturi, & Alighiri, D. (2017). Applying an MVC framework for the system development life cycle with waterfall model extended. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 824, 012007. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/824/1/012007

Langer, A. M. (2016). Cyber security, ISO 9000, and the software development life cycle. Guide to Software Development, 341-354. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-6799-0_17