Predicting patient satisfaction with nurses' call light responsiveness in 4 US hospitals.
OBJECTIVE
This multihospital study determined the contributors to patient/family satisfaction levels with nurses' call light responsiveness and compared the reasons for call light usage as perceived by patients and nurses.


BACKGROUND
Delayed responses to answering call lights may result in a patient falling and can affect patient satisfaction.


METHODS
This cross-sectional survey study was conducted from September 2008 to November 2009 in 4 US hospitals; 1,253 patients/family participants and 988 nurses were surveyed. Descriptive and multiple regression analyses were conducted.


RESULTS
Women, older patient/family participants, and those who perceived that nurses often answered call lights in person, that their problems were resolved after pushing the call light, and that their call lights less frequently involved safety issues were more satisfied with nurses' responsiveness. The top 5 reasons for using call lights were the same for patients and nurses.


CONCLUSIONS
Nursing administrators should emphasize increasing staff's call light responsiveness.
Tzeng
Huey-Ming
HM
Department of Nursing, School of Health Professions and Studies, The University of Michigan-Flint, MI 48502-1950, USA. tzenghm@gmail.com
Yin
Chang-Yi
CY
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006747:Hospital Communication Systems; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015146:Midwestern United States; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009732:Nursing Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012044:Regression Analysis; D017751:Safety Management; D013997:Time Factors