Nurse call systems’ ‘connected future’

Changes in our political infrastructure, the continuing frailties of our economy, and a stark growth in population, have greatly impacted upon the perceived stability of the NHS. Healthcare teams have had to adapt to these changes, and so too have the technologies upon which they rely to deliver first-class patient care. Here Sarah Hunt, marketing co-ordinator at Aid Call, assesses how the changing healthcare environment has affected one of its fundamental technologies – the nurse call system, argues the case for wireless such systems in terms of what the company claims is greater adaptability to changing needs, and considers the ever-wider range of features and functions available from today’s nurse call equipment, particularly via connectivity with both mobile devices, and ancillaries ranging from enuresis sensors to staff attack alert ‘badges’.

Technology has become increasingly prominent in today’s healthcare environment, reflective of its evergrowing dominance in our wider lives. Heightened service demand, and new requirements for improved patient safety within the NHS, have contributed to this, combined with the necessity to implement cost savings in the light of continuing funding uncertainties. 

Our reliance upon healthcare technologies, in fact, only deepens as advances are made. Developments in monitoring and surgical equipment, as well as the IT software used to record and store patient notes, have revolutionised contemporary care, and, with it, our expectations of the care we should receive. This trend extends to nurse call systems, which have greatly evolved – from the static alarm units used when such systems were first introduced, to something altogether far more sophisticated and capable today.