Perceptions of reasons call lights are activated pre- and postintervention to decrease call light use.

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Patient Care
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Patient call lights are crucial for signaling needs but can be overused.
• Understanding patient reasons for call light activation is key to optimizing care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify primary reasons for patient call light activation.
• To compare patient and nurse perceptions of these reasons.
• To evaluate the impact of needs-anticipating interventions on call light usage.

Main Methods:

• Patient surveys and nurse assessments were used to determine call light activation reasons.
• Interventions were implemented to proactively address patient needs.
• Call light activation data was analyzed before and after intervention implementation.

Main Results:

• Top patient reasons for call light use included pain medication, device alarms, and assistance needs.
• Nurse perceptions of these reasons aligned with patient reports.
• Interventions significantly reduced call lights for most identified needs.
• A notable increase in call lights for non-specific caregiver checks was observed post-intervention.

Conclusions:

• Proactive nursing interventions effectively reduce call light activations for specific patient needs.
• While specific needs decreased, non-specific requests may indicate evolving patient communication or care gaps.
• Further research is needed to understand and address the rise in non-specific call light activations.