Are call light use and response time correlated with inpatient falls and inpatient dissatisfaction?

J Nurs Care Qual. 2009 Jul-Sep;24(3):232-42. doi: 10.1097/NCQ.0b013e3181955f30.

Abstract

Inpatients use call lights to seek nurses' assistance. Although implied in patient safety, no studies have analyzed data related to the use of or response time to call lights collected by existing tracking mechanisms monitoring nursing practice. This study used archived hospital data to determine the correlation of the call light use rate and the average call light response time with the fall rate, injurious fall rate, and patient satisfaction scores in acute inpatient care settings.

MeSH terms

  • Accidental Falls / prevention & control
  • Accidental Falls / statistics & numerical data*
  • Hospital Communication Systems / standards*
  • Humans
  • Inpatients / statistics & numerical data
  • Nursing Staff, Hospital / standards*
  • Nursing Staff, Hospital / statistics & numerical data
  • Patient Care Management / standards*
  • Patient Care Management / statistics & numerical data
  • Patient Satisfaction*
  • Quality Assurance, Health Care
  • Safety
  • Time Management*