title: Exploring the relationship between patient call-light use rate and nurse call-light response time in acute care settings.
abstract: Patient call-light usage and nurse responsiveness to call lights are two intertwined concepts that could affect patients' safety during hospital stays. Little is known about the relationship between call-light usage and call-light response time. Consequently, this exploratory study examined the relationship between the patient-initiated call-light use rate and the nursing staff's average call-light response time in a Michigan community hospital. It used hospital archived data retrieved from the call-light tracking system for the period from February 2007 through June 2008. Curve estimation regression and multiple regression analyses were conducted. The results showed that the call-light response time was not affected by the total nursing hours or RN hours. The nurse call-light response time was longer when the patient call-light use rate was higher and the average length of stay was shorter. It is likely that a shorter length of stay contributes to the nursing care activity level on the unit because it is associated with a higher frequency of patient admissions/discharges and treatment per patient-day. This suggests that the nursing care activity level on the unit and number of call-light alarms could affect nurse call-light response time, independently of the number of nurses available to respond.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, School of Health Professions and Studies, The University of Michigan-Flint, MI 48502, USA. tzenghm@gmail.com
authors.forename: Huey-Ming
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Tzeng
authors.forename: Janet L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Larson
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D008824:Michigan; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations