A successful Systems Development and Implementation (SDLC) process is dependent on the partnerships between various stakeholders in the project. The implementation of the new nursing documentation system will require input from the end-users to meet the objectives of its implementation. The lack of partnerships may affect the ability of the IT project implemented to achieve its desired goals and prolong the SDLC, which will impact overall project costs (Jeong et al., 2022). As a representative of the end-users, a nurse leader will be a part of the team developing and implementing the new nursing documentation system. The nurse leader will work directly with the new system’s development and implementation team as an end-user at a presentative capacity, as well as the project’s client, systems design negotiator, and funder as the authority and decision-maker on system features. Therefore, the nurse leader will play a performing role in the SDLC planning, project data collection and analysis, system design, and implementation stages.

Nurse Leader’s Role Description at SDLC Process Stages

Project Planning

The planning level of software systems development presents a number of challenges to the development team as they require external guidance to best execute the process to fit client needs (Lalband & Kavitha, 2019). As a representative of the end-users of the new nursing documentation system at the planning level, the nurse leader will be required to:

Explain to the design team the needs of the nurses with regard to documents,

Define the shortcomings of the current documentation system,

Suggest what features and capabilities the new systems need to have to improve the efficiency of the documentation process. Kim et al. (2020), in a study focused on the development of user-centered smart home solutions, noted that systems development needed to consider contextual user needs.

Liaise with the project implementation team on planning the project and what more input is needed from the nurse leader.

Engage in budgeting for the project.

Project Analysis

At this level, the nurse leader will be required to:

Help the development and implementation team assess user intentions and system expectations,

Assist the implementation team in analyzing risks related to the plan documentation system from all perspectives; the system, costs, and users.

Analyze and identify the nurses’ attitudes toward the adoption of a new documentation system,

Present the attitudes and requirements of the users to the implementation team regarding the features, usability, and efficiency of the new system.

System Design

The system design stage involves the documentation of the planning and analysis stages and deciding on the system architecture (Lalband & Kavitha, 2019). The development and implementation team defines the system’s interface, components, and the specific application of the system within the healthcare settings. In addition, they also decide and provide a technical plan for the implementation of the system. At this stage, the nurse leader will be required to explain to the team about:

The current nursing team’s knowledge of document systems,

The nursing team’s communication structure,

The flow of information across the nursing department and other departments,

The nurses’ expectations of the new documentation system.

Any other special needs and ideas that the nurses may have regarding the new documentation system.

System Implementation

The system implementation stage involves the actual building of the system, including the components to meet the requirements and expectations documented at the system design level (Lalband & Kavitha, 2019). The nurse leader, as a member of the implementation team, will be required to:

Play an active role throughout the implementation period,

Get involved in testing the performance, quality, security, usability, and reliability of the new documentation system. The inclusion of users in the evaluation of electronic tools promotes wider acceptance and adoption and increases the satisfaction of the users with the final technology (Walden et al., 2020).

Understand how the implementation team plans to incorporate the new documentation system with the current system and with the nurses’ work settings,

Inform other nurses how the new documentation system will be phased in and how the old system will be phased out,

Educate the nurses on how data and information will be transferred from the old system to the new system,

Support the implementation team