The call bell system is a major part of the communication between the patient in the healthcare staff. It provides notification to all hospital staff that assistance is required for the patient. However, with numerous conflict regarding the call bell system, its purpose is in disarray. The call bell system is an important part of safety issue as it can prevent falls, accidents and injury by notifying everyone that assistance is required by the patient, especially those who have weakness or other restraints that limit them. With the many responsibility, Nurses, Nursing attendant, PCA, PCT, and other hospital staff usually disregard call bells and prioritize it last. At the same time when they push the call button, it is usually to summon for
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Patients who are dissatisfied with the time it takes for a nurse to respond to a call bell tend to rate a hospital poorly on all other aspects of care, including the way their pain was managed (Nursing Standard 2011). While the importance of the call bell is evident in patient, the same can’t be said among the hospital staff. There’s a an indication that there’s perceptions about the call bells, the patients who used them, and whose job it was to answer them. There was a research done around call bell “The first, and perhaps most problematic aspect of the call bell issue, is that of answering the light. This category includes whose job it is to answer the bells, where the light is answered (either at the nurses' station or in the room), and how long it takes for the light to be answered” (Deitrick, 2006). The staff would pass on the responsibility with each other as they all believe they are too busy to answer the call bell and expects others to answer it. The patient and caregivers aren’t on the same page when it comes to call bells and it causes a rift in patient quality of …show more content…
Because of that, another stigma to call bell is frequent prioritization of nurses leading to prioritizing call bells last. When a call light is used, a nurse or ancillary staff have to prioritize if the current task at hand is the most important one, or if the call light or perhaps even other call lights need to be responded to first (Kalisch 2012). In a real life situation, one staff cannot fulfill his or her responsibility of their patient’s frequent needs. This goes back to the staffing problem, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the only solution for this problem is staffing. The nurses and the ancillary staff should help each other. After all, the call bells are a no pass zone and anyone can enter to provide assistance. When one staff have a heavy load on her hand and another one finished all of his or her’s responsibility within the time frame, he or she can help out the other nurse to answer their patient’s light and relay the message in order for them to answer the call bells in a timely manner and provide the client of a patient centered care
Patients who are dissatisfied with the time it takes for a nurse to respond to a call bell tend to rate a hospital poorly on all other aspects of care, including the way their pain was managed (Nursing Standard 2011). While the importance of the call bell is evident in patient, the same can’t be said among the hospital staff. There’s a an indication that there’s perceptions about the call bells, the patients who used them, and whose job it was to answer them. There was a research done around call bell “The first, and perhaps most problematic aspect of the call bell issue, is that of answering the light. This category includes whose job it is to answer the bells, where the light is answered (either at the nurses' station or in the room), and how long it takes for the light to be answered” (Deitrick, 2006). The staff would pass on the responsibility with each other as they all believe they are too busy to answer the call bell and expects others to answer it. The patient and caregivers aren’t on the same page when it comes to call bells and it causes a rift in patient quality of …show more content…
Because of that, another stigma to call bell is frequent prioritization of nurses leading to prioritizing call bells last. When a call light is used, a nurse or ancillary staff have to prioritize if the current task at hand is the most important one, or if the call light or perhaps even other call lights need to be responded to first (Kalisch 2012). In a real life situation, one staff cannot fulfill his or her responsibility of their patient’s frequent needs. This goes back to the staffing problem, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the only solution for this problem is staffing. The nurses and the ancillary staff should help each other. After all, the call bells are a no pass zone and anyone can enter to provide assistance. When one staff have a heavy load on her hand and another one finished all of his or her’s responsibility within the time frame, he or she can help out the other nurse to answer their patient’s light and relay the message in order for them to answer the call bells in a timely manner and provide the client of a patient centered care