Nurse Call System Testing: Reducing Risk and Ensuring Compliance with Communication Company
Communication within a hospital or healthcare facility is one of the most critical aspects of patient safety. It's essential that staff, patients, and visitors can communicate seamlessly, quickly, and accurately to provide the best possible care.
With communication breakdowns due to technology come the potential for lapses in treatment, patient information errors, falls, and sentinel events (actions resulting in unintended permanent patient injury or intervention to save a life or death). More than 11% of sentinel events can be connected to communication errors, according to 2018 data from The Joint Commission. That’s why it's vital to ensure that all components of nurse call systems are operating properly.
Additionally, OSHA regulations require annual testing and certification of nurse call systems. Just like you would test fire or security systems, regular testing and inspection of nurse call systems can help identify issues that may arise from technological problems — before it’s too late.
Technology Issues Can be Critically Destructive
Unfortunately, when communication technology fails in a healthcare setting it can have disastrous consequences. Poorly functioning or outdated equipment can lead to delays in critical treatments being administered or, worse — missed life-saving opportunities for patients in need of immediate medical attention. A regular inspection can go a long way toward ensuring that doesn’t happen by identifying potential issues before they become problems.
How Communication Company Helps
At Communication Company, we understand the scope and task of employing a fully functional nurse call system in your healthcare facility or campus. We offer comprehensive testing services to verify the proper performance of each nurse call system component, including lights and lighting controls, TV controls, pillow speakers, handheld communications, button functions (cancel, code, staff assist, etc.), staff terminals, audio tones, and corridor lights and patterns.
Nurse call systems are tested against the provisions of UL Standard 1069, Hospital Signaling and Nurse Call Equipment, or its equivalent. This testing is the basis for certification by a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL).
According to OSHA, pocket paging systems are normally only tested for fire and electrical shock-producing hazards and are not tested as extensively as a nurse call system which is also tested for the reliability of operation and performance. If a nurse call system interfaces with a pocket paging system, each system (the nurse call system plus the pocket paging system) must be tested against the provisions of UL 1069 or its equivalent. Otherwise, the NRTL certification is invalid and will not meet OSHA requirements.
In addition to all the tests conducted on the system, Communication Company offers services such as reviewing existing medical facility policies and procedures related to the nurse call system and making recommendations for improvement, if needed.
Ensuring proper performance of a nurse call system by conducting annual testing is non-negotiable in health care facilities across the board; rely on Communication Company as a trusted partner, with our commitment to providing thorough assessments by experienced personnel who understand how to maintain a safe environment while simultaneously increasing operational efficiency within your organization. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help!