The Inclusion of Nurses in the SDLC

The Inclusion of Nurses in the SDLC

The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is comprised of the stages in the life of a system, such as an information system, a model that can be used in project management of system’s development effort that encompasses the lifespan from its practicality to its expiration. SLDC provides a good way to deliver successful and structured information systems that fit with the calculated organizational business plan. The steps in SDLC are to understand the problems or needs, understanding a solution, developing and implementation of a plan, maintenance, review, and destruction. (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017).

One of the newest information systems introduced into my facility is the use of CPOE (Computerized Provider Order Entry). With the introduction of CPOE comes many advantages to better patient outcomes such as, faster order transmission to the lab and pharmacy, avoiding illegible handwriting, averting medication errors, and faster adverse drug reaction reporting. The challenges with implementing this new program is getting nurses and doctors on board with it. Change is not easy and some physicians are not readily willing to use the system. CPOE requires physicians to perform various different tasks, increasing their cognitive load, and decreasing efficiency. And current systems have use of nonstandard terminology and confusing displays to get acquainted with. In turn, the nurse also has to get used to looking at new ways of getting the orders that require some training (Patient Safety Network, 2019).

It is vital to involve nurses in the design, planning, and implementation of CPOE taking into consideration their workflow. Focusing on the output of CPOE supports effective nursing practice enabling them to understand, value, and use the technology while allowing physicians to see the benefits of improved communication with caregivers. Nurses are at the forefront of patient care and can give crucial information about the patient. Nurses should be involved in all stages of implementing a new CPOE program (Ghosh, Norton, & Skiba, 2006).

The nurses in my facility were not involved in the process of the CPOE system. The nurse informaticists and IT department oversaw the project. This made things difficult for the nurses. We were given one class and then it rolled out making it difficult to navigate the system and time consuming at first. Certain areas of the program did not fit our needs in the different departments. My sameday surgery department is very different from the floors. Our admission histories and discharge instructions are not the same. It has been an arduous task to get the doctors on board as well. And the way our department works in the hospital it has not been feasible to use CPOE for out pre-admission orders either. It would have been a much more efficient and better process all the way around if nurses had input on the new system.

References

Ghosh, T., Norton, M., & Skiba, D., (2006). US National Library of Medicine National

            Institute of Health. Communication, Coordination and Knowledge Sharing in the

            Implementation of CPOE: Impact on Nursing Practice. Retrieved April 23, 2019

            from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1839469/

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K.G., (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of nursing

            knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Chapter 9, “Systems

            Development Life Cycle: Nursing Informatics and Organizational Decision Making”

            (pp 245-261).

Patient Safety Network. (2019, January). Computerized Provider Order Entry. Retrieved

April 23, 2019 from https://psnet.ahrq.gov/primers/primer/6/computerized-provider-order-entry