It is widely acknowledged that failing to include nursing in the planning stages can have disastrous consequences. I can’t imagine spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a system that staff despises because it doesn’t meet their requirements. Nurses must be involved in both the preproject phase and the project life cycle so that their concerns can be voiced and included on the requirements list. The implementation process is not meant to be smooth. When problems arise, changes must be made. I adore the pancake principle: “the first pancake is not as good as the rest, and one should be aware that the first development will not be perfect” (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015, p. 181).

Which stage of the systems development life cycle do you believe nursing input is most useful?