A nurse call system can help improve response times, increase patient safety, and more. A good nurse call system will be able to be customized to your facility’s needs and operations. Whether for a hospital, assisted living, senior living, or another healthcare facility, here are some tips to choose the best nurse call system for your facility:

1. Consider Your Needs, Goals, and Objectives

When reviewing security, a building vulnerability assessment checklist can be a useful tool for identifying gaps and defining goals. A similar approach can be applied to choosing the best nurse call system for your facility.

You have to consider your needs and wants as well as the goals and objectives you have for the nurse call system. What are the features you need? How do you need it to help you? What do you want this system to help you achieve? Common goals and objectives for nurse call systems often include:

• Efficiently Tracking Patient Care
• Collecting and Organizing Data More Effectively
• Improving Response Times and Accountability
• Using Technology to Personalize and Improve Care
• Improving Patient Safety and Patient Satisfaction
• Increasing HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) Scores
• Reducing Noise Levels and False Alarms

Information about your specific needs, goals, and objectives will be helpful in determining the best options, customizations, other features or integrations, and more for your facility. Even if you don’t know the answers to everything, having some insights to share with a security systems integrator can help them narrow down options that will work best for your facility and operations.

2. Determine Your Budget

Depending on the structure of your organization, you may already know what your budget for a nurse call system will be. If not, it’s important to determine a budget range. Many of the things to consider when security budget planning can also help you determine a budget for a nurse call system. Knowing your goals, identifying risks, thinking about cost, cost avoidance, and ROI, and more can all help you with budget planning for this essential system.

3. Review Current Infrastructure

Whether a blueprint for new construction or an existing building, it’s important to review your current infrastructure. Particularly important for existing facilities, you need to know what your current systems, workflows, technologies, and resources are so that you can integrate a new nurse call system seamlessly.

There are several benefits of integrated security systems, but systems have to integrate and work together seamlessly for you to experience them. Reviewing your current systems and technologies can help you identify the capabilities you need from a nurse call system and can also help you identify any gaps, vulnerabilities, challenges, etc. that you want to address. You may even find other resources that need to be updated or added before you bring in a new nurse call system.

4. Identify Options and Test Compatibility

With current capabilities and the features you want in mind, you then want to identify a few options that you think will be a good fit for your needs. There are essential components of a nurse call system to look for, and there may be additional features that you need.

Comparing those options with your facility’s capabilities can help you further narrow down options or perhaps identify other building or system upgrades that need to happen for your facility to be able to use newer necessary systems.

This can be a consideration when evaluating wired vs wireless nurse call systems or a hybrid system. Looking at options with your goals and objectives in mind can also help you determine features that are must-haves, what is nice to have, and even things that could be considered deal breakers that would make a system not a good fit for your facility.

Several features and options of nurse call systems to consider can include:

• Wired, Wireless, or Hybrid Nurse Call Systems
• Seamless Integration With Other Systems
• Advanced Management and Reporting Software
• Ability to Prioritize Calls and Send Reminders
• Multiple and Versatile Call Point Options
• Scalability With Plug-to-Play Settings
• Low-Profile Adjustable Alert Lights
• Data Backup, Maintenance Reminders, and Low-Battery Alerts

5. Partner With a Security Systems Integrator

Choosing the right security systems integrator can make a big difference and can help you get the nurse call system you need for your facility. A good partner can also help you work through your needs and goals, review current infrastructure, identify options, and more to assist you through every step in the process.

A good security systems integrator will make sure all gaps and vulnerabilities are addressed, you have the right nurse call system for your needs, the products are customized to your needs, and more. In addition to peace of mind with proper installation, they may even offer support and maintenance plans to give you peace of mind and save you time. These are some of the benefits of using a full-service security systems integrator.

6. Train and Support Staff

During and after the installation of your new nurse call system, you will need to train your staff on the system, update policies and workflows, and support your staff as they get accustomed to the new processes and systems. Not only will this help your staff get up to speed quickly, ease stress, and improve efficiency, but it can also help reduce false alarms and combat alarm fatigue for happier staff and patients.

Your technology partner may be able to help with some training and support, especially if your installation included any custom configurations, integrations, additional features, etc. A good technology partner can be an invaluable resource and support, so don’t be afraid to ask about post-installation resources during your selection process.

7. Monitor, Review, and Improve

There are many reasons why you need incident management software. Being able to monitor, review, and improve processes is one of the biggest, and can be especially useful after installing and integrating a new system.

Nurse call systems are one of the technologies that improve long-term care and you want to make sure yours is helping you do that. The nurse call system you chose should be helping you meet your initial goals and objectives. Reviewing the impact it has once the call system is up and running can help you continue to improve patient and staff safety and satisfaction.

Comprehensive, accessible reporting that provides this information is one of the things to look for in incident management software. Not only can you review and refine processes to improve your facility overall, but you can also use those insights to determine a return on investment across the key performance indicators that matter most to you, your staff, and your patients.

Get the Nurse Call System Your Facility Needs

Nurse call systems improve patient safety and these are just a few tips to choose the best nurse call system for your facility. Partnering with a security systems integrator can make a big difference in getting a system that fits your needs, is installed properly, and is configured to work with your staff, facility, and operations. If you’re interested in replacing or upgrading the nurse call system in your facility, contact NEPPS at 1-800-736-1456.