Portfolio Assignment: The Role of the Nurse Informaticist in Systems Development and Implementation
Introduction
Nursing informatics is a subset of health information technology (HIT) that blends nursing, computing systems and information science to develop and maintain databases to support nursing practice. Nurses need information of a varied nature in care provision to understand patients’ needs and determine the best plan of care for them. The required information is patient bio data, medical history, imaging results, clinical summaries from physicians, and medication lists. Nurse informaticists are the professionals specializing in this field. Some of the roles and responsibilities of nurse informaticists are: analyzing information systems, doing system planning and implementation, reporting on quality and efficiency of information systems, optimizing system performance, and training nursing staff on health information technologies. Nurse informaticists serve a mediatory role between nursing staff and information systems and as such, are a critical part of HIT implementation teams Portfolio Assignment: The Role of the Nurse Informaticist in Systems Development and Implementation. Their capacity to interpret information systems to nursing staff helps nurses understand HITs and effectively use them in their work.
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Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
Systems development lifecycle is a framework defining the processes involved in each stage of software development. The basic proposition of SDLC is the capacity to produce high quality software at the lowest cost and in the least time. The systems development life cycle (SDLC) generally has five stages although their use differs with type of organization and intended purpose. The SDLC steps are: planning, analysis, design and development, implementation, and testing and maintenance (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018). Portfolio Assignment: The Role of the Nurse Informaticist in Systems Development and Implementation Nurses constitute the largest percentage of the workforce in healthcare provision. Given that, successfully implementing and effectively utilizing a health information system requires their informed and willing participation. This is why nurse leaders ought to be involved in all stages of the systems development life cycle. Notably, nurse informaticists can enlighten hospital leadership how a health information system can meet the needs of an organization and support staff in executing their duties. The roles of nurse leaders and nurse informaticists in each of the SDLC stages are explored below.
Planning and Requirements Definition
This is the planning stage of a HIT project. In this stage, the implementation team identifies the shortcomings of the existing system, evaluates its scope, and defines objectives the new system is intended to achieve. The functions, features, capabilities, staffing needs, and funding for the projected system are also determined. The product of the planning stage is a project schedule detailing project activities, costs, and timelines. The role of the nurse leader in this stage is to assist with defining objectives, features, functions and capabilities required of the projected health information system. Nurse leaders also help with charting the project schedule. Nurse informaticists help with interpreting the needs of the organization to vendors and development teams so that the resulting system fits with what the organization needs.
Analysis
The main activities of this stage are determining the precise requirements of the prototype, exploring alternatives, conducting research, and analyzing what the needs of end users are. This step produces the software requirement document, which details the hardware and software specifications of the planned system and its networking capabilities. The software requirement document is intended to enable efficient utilization of funds, time and developers. The input of nurse leaders in this step is sharing their evaluation of the present system, its strengths, shortcomings and areas of improvement (Yen et al, 2017). The input of nurse informaticists is valuable in this stage as they understand the quirks of the organization in relation to HIT in a way that few other people can.
Design and Development
This stage entails coding the system as per the requirements of the software requirement document. Database setup, programming user and system interfaces is done in this stage. Plans for training, operating, training and maintenance manuals are devised so that developers and implementers know what is needed to facilitate usage of the system by end users. The input of a nurse informaticist in this stage is informing developers on the types of interfaces best suited to the organization and helping to draw up the plans for manuals (Nagle, 2021).
Implementation
Here, the different elements of the health information system brought together in the design stage are incorporated into the host environment. Staff training is done, the system installed, and user feedback used to guide, and if necessary adjust, the implementation process. System implementation can be undertaken in stages, by departments or as a total overhaul depending on the needs of the organization. The importance of this stage cannot be understated as this is the most visible determinant of project success. Nurse leaders lend their efforts to this stage by organizing meetings with staff, using reward systems to enhance system adoption, being change managers, identifying barriers to implementation and coming up with viable solutions. The roles of a nurse informaticist in this stage are reviewing the implementation process, helping with staff training, verifying accuracy of data input and processing, measuring outcomes, and managing access to information (Bird, 2017).
Post-implementation Support
This step involves testing and maintenance. Tests for bugs are done and the implementation team ensures there is positive user experience. The fit of the system to the organization is also assessed and feedback from the implementation stage acted on. Nursing documentation deals with different types of data coded in complex ways, all being accessed by different staff with different access permissions. Due to this complexity, issues are sometimes identified after the system has been in use for a while and they are rectified in this stage. Notably, system updates are the most common post-implementation support activity that is carried out to allow for the incorporation of new functionalities, address new organizational needs and make modifications to processes (Nagle, 2021). Nurse informaticists contribute to this stage by ensuring the system is accurate in capturing data and storing information, affirming that outputs match what is expected, and informing the developers of required changes
Conclusion
Information systems are an indispensable part of modern healthcare. Such systems manage documentation, scheduling, and medication administration among many other things that are part of nurses’ work. It is thus crucial to involve nurse leaders and nurse informaticists in all stages of system development lifecycle when developing and implementing health information systems. Nurse leaders and informaticists contribute to SDLC by sharing their knowledge of the organization’s needs and what is required of the planned system Portfolio Assignment: The Role of the Nurse Informaticist in Systems Development and Implementation. They also facilitate successful adoption of the system in the healthcare organization’s work flows by being change managers and champions, doing staff training, obtaining feedback, evaluating the new system’s reliability, and doing system maintenance after implementation. Nurse informaticists are thus important to healthcare organizations and their effectiveness would be enhanced by being part of hospital leadership.
References
Bird, P. (2017). A day in the life of a nurse informaticist: Implementation support. Journal of
Informatics Nursing, 2(2), 27.
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2018). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge
(4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning
Nagle, L. M. (2021). The role of the informatics nurse. In Introduction to nursing
informatics (pp. 295-315). Springer, Cham.
Portfolio Assignment: The Role of the Nurse Informaticist in Systems Development and Implementation
Yen, P. Y., Phillips, A., Kennedy, M. K., & Collins, S. (2017). Nursing informatics competency
assessment for the nurse leader: instrument refinement, validation, and psychometric analysis. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 47(5), 271-277. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000478
Portfolio Assignment: The Role of the Nurse Informaticist in Systems Development and Implementation
Assume you are a nurse manager on a unit where a new nursing documentation system is to be implemented. You want to ensure that the system will be usable and acceptable for the nurses impacted. You realize a nurse leader must be on the implementation team.
To Prepare:
- Review the steps of the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and reflect on the scenario presented.
- Consider the benefits and challenges associated with involving a nurse leader on an implementation team for health information technology.
The Assignment: (2-3 pages not including the title and reference page)
In preparation of filling this role, develop a 2- to 3-page role description for a graduate-level nurse to guide his/her participation on the implementation team. The role description should be based on the SDLC stages and tasks and should clearly define how this individual will participate in and impact each of the following steps:
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- Planning and requirements definition
- Analysis
- Design of the new system
- Implementation
- Post-implementation support
- Use APA format and include a title page and reference page.
- Use the Safe Assign Drafts to check your match percentage before submitting your work.
Develop a 2- to 3-page role description for a graduate-level nurse to guide his/her participation on the implementation team. Portfolio Assignment: The Role of the Nurse Informaticist in Systems Development and Implementation The role description should be based on the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) stages and tasks and should clearly define how this individual will participate in and impact each of the following steps:
· Planning and requirements definition
· Analysis
· Design of the new system
· Implementation
· Post-implementation support—
Written Expression and Formatting – Paragraph Development and Organization:
Paragraphs make clear points that support well developed ideas, flow logically, and demonstrate continuity of ideas. Sentences are carefully focused–neither long and rambling nor short and lacking substance.—
Written Expression and Formatting – English writing standards:
Correct grammar, mechanics, and proper punctuation—
Written Expression and Formatting – The paper follows correct APA format for title page, headings, font, spacing, margins, indentations, page numbers, running head, parenthetical/in-text citations, and reference list.—
| Total Points: 100 |
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Portfolio Assignment: The Role of the Nurse Informaticist in Systems Development and Implementation