Latest Advancements In Nurse Call Systems

"Call bells,” as nurse call systems are sometimes called, are an important link between patients and their caregivers. But these communications systems are far more than the basic push-to-call systems that they once were. Nurse call systems today have updated features that can significantly increase a patient’s level of care and comfort.

Typical OKC or Tulsa nurse call systems allow patients to call for staff assistance using an audible/visual system. From the patient's in-room call station, nurses are alerted of a patient’s call for aid at the nurse master station. Room station devices may include bedside and wall-mounted push-button call modules, as well as pull-cord stations in the bathroom. Some nurse call systems have two-way communication between patient rooms and the nurse call master station. Lights outside of each patient room and in the hallway also notify staff that assistance is needed. These are some of the more traditional features of nurse calls systems.

What are some of the more recent features available in Tulsa or OKC nurse call systems? Along with the basic UL 1069 requirements for calling and signaling, today’s nurse calls keep staff linked to their patients even when they’re on-the-go. Wireless communication systems using cell phones, wireless phones, and pagers are now being connected to nurse call systems so that nurses and doctors can communicate instantly with their patients and other staff wherever they are and be alerted with information about the patient's care needs. These systems can make use of the facility’s Internet Protocol (IP) and Voice-Over IP (VoIP) networks, thus eliminating the need for separate cabling installation for just nurse call systems.

Today, nurse call systems can include location tracking features that allow a continuous display of nurse and patient locations, even displaying a particular staff member's job description, so that the closest and most qualified staff member is quickly notified to provide patient care.

Another feature of the latest nurse call systems is cross reference across various systems and networks. Different departments, databases, and processes such as hospital information systems (HIS), environmental services (EVS), and admission, discharge, and transfer (ADT) systems can be integrated with the nurse call system to provide detailed patient-identification information to the appropriate crew, and even assign particular patients to specific nurses so that when calls are placed, the assigned caregiver is personally sent notification to their wireless device. A patient’s equipment like IVs, bed-exit detectors, etc. can be connected to the nurse call system to send an alarm notification to the appropriate caregiver when a piece of equipment's alarm goes off. These system integrations that are Health Level 7 (HL7) compliant can significantly streamline the caregiving workload, increasing productivity and the quality of a patient’s care.

Nurse call reporting and patient documentation can be enhanced and human errors mitigated with these advanced nurse call systems that integrate with various systems and department databases. Some of these networked systems permit for patient information to be entered once and then accessed across multiple databases. Systems with staff locator set-up can document staff response times and other patient data to provide better quality control for patients.

When contemplating upgrading a nurse call system, healthcare facility officials may want to streamline their systems by using just one nurse call manufacturer. This will reduce the challenges and increased costs of maintaining several systems. This standardization can also help the nurse call system to function smoothly and make integration and maintenance much easier.

Mac Systems can provide the custom Tulsa or OKC nurse call systems your hospital, outpatient clinic, assisted living center, or other healthcare facility needs to provide the highest quality of care to your patients.