IMPORTANCE OF INVOLVING NURSES IN SLDC STAGES 2

Importance of Involving Nurses in SLDC Stages

Healthcare organizations are increasingly adopting electronic health records (EHR)
systems as a means of improving efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare services that they
provide to patients. Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) gives healthcare organizations
with a framework that helps them deliver effective and efficient EHR systems (McGonigle &
Mastrian, 2015). SLDC has many stages. They include understanding the problem to be
addressed, the solution to the problem, and developing and implementing the system to
address the problem.
In all these stages, it is important to involve nurses in all actions taken. This is because
nurses are not only the primary end-users of these technology systems but also play a central
role in healthcare delivery to patients (Barret & Stephens, 2017). They are, therefore, well-
placed to determine effectiveness of a system. Not involving them in all SDLC stages may
result in serious negative consequences. These consequences include having systems that are
not practical or effective for frontline healthcare workers such as physicians and nurses, and
having systems that not safe for patients (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015).
The issues do not emerge because of exclusion of nurses at any specific stage but at
multiple stages. For instance, not involving nurses at purchasing stage may result in a product
that is incompatible with existing systems (Wilkinson et al., 2020). Also, not involving nurses
at the problem identification and solution stage may result in having a system that does not
address a given problem effectively. Additionally, when nurses are not involved at the testing
and implementation stage, the final product may fail to deliver expected results.
While I have never been included in selection and implementation of new health
information technology system in my workplace, I have witnessed consequences of not being

IMPORTANCE OF INVOLVING NURSES IN SLDC STAGES 3
involved in such decisions. Our facility purchased a system whose goal was to enhance
communication among staff members. It was implemented without any input from us, the
nurses. When it became operational, it was found to be slow and cumbersome to use. Almost
everyone avoided using it. Eventually, it had to be done away with.

IMPORTANCE OF INVOLVING NURSES IN SLDC STAGES 4

References

Barrett, A. K., & Stephens, K. K. (2017). Making electronic health records (ehrs) work: Informal
talk and workarounds in healthcare organizations. Health communication, 32(8), 1004-
1013.
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K.G. (2015). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge
(3rd ed.). Nurlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Wilkinson, S., Borycki, E., & Kushniruk, A. (2020, January). Best practices for EHR
implementation: A BC First Nations community’s experience. In Healthcare
management forum (Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 39-46). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE
Publications.