Calling a nurse just a button away now

Chennai: When “R-99 SOS” flashes up on the smart wristwatch on the hand of Sarala, a nurse working in BSS Hospital, it is a signal that she is immediately required by a patient in room 99 and she is able to attend her patient without any delay. This on-time patient care is possible only due to a wireless nurse calling system that is catching up in Chennai hospitals. As soon as the patient presses the SOS button in the transmitter, Nutans H Nurse Calling System uses the power of Internet of Things (IoT) to communicate with receiving devices with the nurse and the central console.

 

The system has four options: To request the services of cleaning the room, calling the nurse for any assistance, raising an SOS alarm, and to cancel any request raised by mistake.

 

Nutans H Nurse Calling System tracks each request silently in the background. All data is collated and centrally stored in the cloud.  The Nutans analytical engine also allows exporting such data into diagrams that can be easily visualised, i.e., charts and graphs as per their needs. Intelligent insights such as ‘Busiest hour,’ ‘Hour that saw most SOS requests,’ ‘Idle Hour’ allow the senior management to map and manage their staff patterns and procurement.

 

“Patients in traditional hospitals rely on conventional means to attract nurse's attention -  calling them or making a trip to the central room where the on-duty-nurse is stationed. Such a practice is painful and causes inconvenience to the patient and attendants,” said Gopinath Jayamalrao, CEO, Strobilathes Technology Solutions.

 

Such wastage of time can be fatal to the patient. The few seconds between a patient requesting for help and help being made available to the patient could mean the difference between life and death, he said.

 

“But now thanks to the Nutans H Nurse Calling System, such life-threatening delays between request and help are now history,”he said. 

 

The best aspect of this device lies in its simplicity to use. One such feature that empowers hospitals to track service requests is the LIVE monitoring dashboard. Any request that is raised using the system can also be viewed in the LIVE monitor stationed at the nurse’s station. If the nurse, for any reason, fails to tend to the patient within a span of three minutes, then the device escalates the issue and the person in charge of the floor is notified. If for some reason, they too, are unable to respond within two minutes, then the superintendent is alerted with an automated message and the details of the delay are notified. 

 

The monitor also has different colour codings - for the first three minutes the notification is green in color, from 3-5 minutes it turns to orange, from 5 minutes onwards it becomes red signifying emergency. The notification is also triggered on the mobile phone of the nurse head on her watch for which an app ‘spy’ is installed as well.

 

 Such a backup to the backup ensures that there are no loose edges in timely assistance to patients, said Gopinath. 

 

“It has happened many times that suddenly a patient has felt breathless and has pressed the button for immediate assistance as nobody close by. Nutans H has helped us tremendously,” he said.

 

The feedback forms staff and patients are extremely positive. It is also very convenient for the nurses as they strap on the watch. If patients are alone in the room and in emergency, this device is useful.

 

“Sometimes when it is a matter of life and death we understand the real value of it. Other hospitals too can use it,” said Preethi Manohar, GM. Health Care, Surya Hospital. 

 

“Wherever the nurses are they know who is calling them and the call does not go unnoticed. Hence, patient satisfaction has also improved considerably. One is attached near the patient's bed and the other is near the washroom,” said Dr Ramya Harish, medical superindent, BSS Hospital.

 

A patient, Immanuel, also felt that nurses were attending calls faster and this system can actually go on a long way to increase the overall efficiency of service standards in hospitals across the city.