IMPROVED PATIENT/NURSE CALL SYSTEM

摘要

A patient/nurse call system (10) for a hospital includes patient stations (1 8) capable of generating hospital calls and a remote mas ter station (32) which prioritizes and stores the calls. Hall units (28) outside patient rooms (14) identify the rooms (14) from which t he calls originate and the type of call. Each patient station (18) allows selective r etrieval and display of unanswered calls, and the system (10) further permits audio interconnection between any two of the stations (18, 3 2). Nurses-worn badges (26) transmit pulse-coded infrare d signals which are received by receivers (121) at the patient stations (18) a nd in response, the system (10) generates identity and l ocation signals which are stored at the master station (32). The nurse location and identity information may also be retrieved and displayed at any patient station (18). Receipt of a nurse's (11) infrared signal at a room st ation (18) automatically cancels a patient call originat ing from the room (14) and display thereof by the respective hall unit (28), while ac tuating a display (122) to indicate nurse (11) presence. Bed monitoring units (149) also interconnect to the patient stations (18) to gen erate signals related to bed status.