MAKE CONNECTIONS. SEE RESULTS.

Wireless devices can help you enhance their efficiency and patient safety. After one clinical team switched from pagers to wireless badges, call response times decreased from 1.6 minutes to 30 seconds, and led to a 100 percent success rate in communication loop closure.⁴ And responding faster to calls can lower the rate of patient falls — including those leading to injuries.([FOOTNOTE=Tzeng H-M, Titler MG, Ronis DL. The contribution of staff call light response time to fall and injurious fall rates: an exploratory study in four US hospitals using archived hospital data. BMC Health Serv Res. 2012;12:84. doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-12-84.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=])

Wireless communication can help you reduce time spent assigning calls and delivering abnormal lab test results requiring attention. One hospital integrated wireless telephone handsets with existing clinical applications, sensors, monitoring equipment, and the nurse call system. The technology saved 80 percent of nurses at least 30 minutes per shift.([FOOTNOTE=Turisco F, Rhoads, J. Equipped for Efficiency: Improving Nursing Care Through Technology. Published Dec. 2008. Accessed Jan. 29, 2018.],[ANCHOR=California Health Care Foundation Website],[LINK=https://www.chcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/PDF-EquippedForEfficiency.pdf])

In one medical-surgical unit, nurses previously walked to designated stations to coordinate and respond to patient calls. After equipping nurses with wireless devices, the unit found that the devices improved communication between staff and patients. A follow-up study found that nurses responded to 62 percent of calls in less than a minute, communication among staff increased, and patient falls decreased.([FOOTNOTE=Guarascio-Howard L. Examination of wireless technology to improve nurse communication, response time to bed alarms, and patient safety. HERD. 2011;4(2)109–120.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=])

Workflow management tools can help you prioritize tasks and identify special needs. One team installed electronic scoreboards displaying patient value indicators, bed status, and language barriers. As a result, calls about bed management declined by 35 percent, and nurses gained 30 minutes per day to spend on bedside care.⁶