Nurse call system
A wireless nurse call system for care homes
A nurse call system, in many UK care homes simply called the call bell system, lets a resident ask for help and makes sure the right carer knows straight away. A wireless system does this without a cable to every room. This page explains how it works in a care home, what it consists of and what to ask a supplier.
Updated
What is a nurse call system for care homes?
A nurse call system takes a call from a resident to a carer. On the floor it is often called the call bell system; the two names mean the same thing. The resident presses a button, or a sensor notices that something is happening, and a carer receives the alert.
First there was a light above the bedroom door, then pagers and DECT handsets. Now the call can arrive on a smartphone, with what is happening and where.
What makes a nurse call system wireless?
In a wired system a cable runs to every room. If you add a room or rearrange a unit, the cabling has to change with it.
In a wireless nurse call system the transmitters and sensors send their signal to a receiver in the building. In Daza Connect that receiver is called a gateway. You connect it to a power socket and a fixed internet connection. One or more gateways cover the entire building.
Three practical consequences:
- You can start on one unit and expand later.
- A sensor moves with a resident who changes room.
- Expanding means adding a sensor, not building work.
What does it consist of?
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| Transmitters and sensors | Raise the call: a press on the pendant or wrist transmitter, a resident getting out of bed, a door opening |
| Gateway | Receives the signals in the building and passes them on |
| App on the smartphone | Shows the carer the location, the room, the alarm type and the name of the resident. One tap opens the alarm, one tap clears it |
| Web portal | For management and insight: care staff, locations, rooms and sensors, open alarms, peak hours and response times |
Which sensors raise the call?
Daza Connect works with the wireless sensors from Daza. With some, the resident asks for help. Others detect a situation by themselves:
- The pendant and wrist transmitter: the resident presses the button.
- The panic button and the pull cord: fixed alarm points, for example in the bathroom.
- The Optiscan and the Bedscan: infrared sensors at the bed that report that a resident is getting out of bed.
- The door sensor: reports that a door or window opens.
All sensors are on the home page. See also the bed exit sensor for care homes.
Eight questions to ask a supplier
- Where does the call arrive? On a separate device, or on the smartphone the carer already carries?
- Who receives the alert? Everyone, or only the care staff responsible for that unit?
- What happens if nobody responds? Is the alert repeated and passed on to a colleague?
- What does the system record? Can you see afterwards how quickly staff responded?
- What is needed in the building? A cable to every room, or a few receivers?
- Who manages it? Can you add a sensor or a new carer yourself?
- How do you know a sensor has stopped working? Does the system report a low battery or a receiver without a connection?
- What do you pay at purchase and per month? See nurse call system cost.
How Daza Connect answers these questions
- The call arrives on an Android smartphone, shared or personal. See the nurse call app for care homes.
- Only the care staff who are monitoring a unit receive the alerts from that unit.
- If nobody responds, Daza Connect repeats the alert and escalates the alarm according to your organisation’s settings.
- Every alarm is in the log, from alert to resolution: who cleared it and how long it took.
- You manage the system yourself in the web portal. You pair a sensor with the app.
- If the battery of a sensor is low or a gateway has no connection, the system raises an alert.
Who is it for?
Daza Connect is designed for care homes and nursing homes, and for learning disability and mental health services.