Nurse call system

Abstract

To allow nurses to recognize a situation where a patient performs call operation only on a master unit and does not perform the operation on a portable terminal.SOLUTION: A nurse call system has slave units 1 installed on respective beds, a master unit 3 installed in a nurse station, a plurality of portable terminals 5 carried by nurses, and a controller 4 controlling communication between devices. The nurse call system has a nurse information storage unit 41 that stores the association between the nurses and the portable terminals 5, and a slave unit / portable terminal storage unit 42 that registers call destination portable terminals 5 for the respective slave units 1. When call operation is performed on the slave unit 1, the controller 4 executes control of calling the portable terminal 5 registered in the slave unit / portable terminal storage unit 42 in addition to the master unit 3, and when unable to call the portable terminal 5 registered as the call destination for the slave unit 1 on which the call operation is performed because the portable terminal is in an off state, changes the call action of the master unit 3 to a specific call action different from that in a case where it simultaneously calls the portable terminal 5, and causes the master unit 3 to notify the nurse of a fact that the call operation is not performed on the portable terminal 5.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a nurse call system that enables an inpatient to call a nurse. [Background technology]

[0002] Nurse call systems equipped with portable terminals carried by nurses so that nurses can respond to calls from patients even when they are not at the nursing station are becoming widespread. In such nurse call systems equipped with portable terminals, it is necessary to change the call destination of the portable terminal every time a nurse changes shifts from the day shift to the night shift, etc., and if there is an error in this operation, a call may be made to an unused portable terminal. To reduce mistakes in changing operations, for example, in Patent Document 1, a card reader that reads RFID tags is attached to the handset, and when the nurse's RFID tag is read and the call button on the handset is pressed and held, the parent unit determines that this is a registration operation for the mobile device carried by the nurse, and registers the mobile device of the nurse who performed the registration operation as the call destination of the handset that was pressed and held. In addition, a validity period is set for this registration, and the registration is cancelled after a certain period of time has passed. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2017-6414 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the mobile terminal registration operation of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the call operation could be performed only on the mobile terminal carried by the nurse on duty. However, in the case of a registration error or when there are few nurses, such as on the night shift, the call signal is sent to all the slave units, i.e., there are not all mobile terminals that are notified of the call, and the call is not made to any unit other than the master unit. In such a situation, the nurse on duty cannot grasp the situation and may end up not responding to the calling patient, making them wait.

[0005] In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a nurse call system that allows a nurse to recognize when a call from a patient is made only to the base unit and not to a mobile terminal. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the nurse call system of the present invention has a handset installed at each bed so that patients can call nurses, a parent unit installed at a nurse's station so that nurses can respond to calls from the handset, a number of portable terminals carried by nurses to respond to calls from patients, and a controller that controls communication between the devices, and has a nurse information memory unit that stores associations between nurses and portable terminals, and a handset / portable memory unit that registers the called portable terminal for each handset, and when a call operation is performed on a handset, the controller controls the sending of a call signal to the portable terminal registered in the handset / portable memory unit in addition to the parent unit, while when the portable terminal to which the call signal is to be sent is off and cannot be called, the controller changes the calling operation of the parent unit to a specific calling operation that is different from the case where the portable terminal is called at the same time, and causes the parent unit to notify that the portable terminal cannot be called. According to this configuration, if the mobile terminal that notifies the handset of calls is turned off due to the absence of the nurse in charge, etc., and no call notification is made to any unit other than the parent unit, the call operation of the parent unit is changed to a specific operation, so that a nurse at the nurse's station can recognize the situation where there is no call on the mobile terminal and prevent calls from being left unattended.

[0007] Another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that in the above configuration, the specific ringing action is changing the ring tone to a predetermined ring tone. According to this configuration, since the ring tone is different from a normal ring tone, it is possible to instantly recognize that there is no call to the mobile terminal. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, when the mobile terminal that notifies the handset of calls is turned off due to the absence of the nurse in charge, etc., and no call notification is made to any unit other than the parent unit, the call operation of the parent unit is changed to a specific operation, so that a nurse at the nurse's station can recognize the situation where there is no call on the mobile terminal and prevent a situation where a call is left unattended. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a nurse call system according to the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a controller. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a nurse call system according to the present invention. The nurse call system 10 includes a handset 1 installed at each bed in a hospital for a patient to call a nurse, a corridor light 2 for announcing a call from a patient in front of the hospital room, a base unit 3 installed at a nurse station for responding to a call from a patient, a controller 4 for controlling communication between devices, and a mobile terminal 5 carried by each nurse. The system also includes base stations 6 installed at appropriate intervals in the hospital for communicating with the mobile terminal 5, a PBX (switchboard) 7 for managing communication of the mobile terminal 5, and a card reader 8 as an ID reading means.

[0011] Furthermore, G1 indicates the first ward, G2 indicates the second ward, and the master unit 3 is installed in each of the first ward G1 and the second ward G2. The card reader 8 reads the ID information of nurses who clock in and out, and is composed of a first card reader 8a that manages clocking in and a second card reader 8b that manages clocking out. The corridor light 2, the base unit 3, the control unit 4, and the PBX 7 are connected to a network N that constitutes a LAN within the hospital, and the devices communicate with each other via the network N.

[0012] The handset 1 is composed of a call grip button 1a for calling and a plate handset 1b that is installed on the wall and has a calling function and is equipped with a microphone 11 and a speaker 12. The call grip button 1a is connected to the plate handset 1b, and the plate handset 1b is connected to the corridor light 2 for each hospital room by a transmission line L1. The corridor light 2 has an indicator light 21 that issues a notification when the handset 1 is operated to make a call, and a patient information display unit 22 that displays patient information. The base unit 3 has a handset 31 for answering calls, a first display unit 32 consisting of an LCD for displaying a list of patient information, and a second display unit 33 for displaying the patient information of the caller. The first display unit 32 is equipped with a touch panel and also serves as an operation unit 35 for performing various input operations and display changes.

[0013] 2 shows a functional block diagram of the control unit 4. The control unit 4 includes a nurse information storage unit 41 that stores nurse information such as a nurse ID, a portable terminal (extension number) carried by the nurse, and the ward to which the nurse belongs, a handset / portable storage unit 42 that stores the portable terminal 5 to which a call signal is to be sent for each handset 1, a callable terminal storage unit 43 that stores the portable terminals 5 that can be called based on the nurse's attendance information, a control unit CPU 44 that controls calls and communication between devices, a control unit communication IF 45 that connects to the network N, a card reader communication IF 46 that communicates with the card reader 8, and the like.

[0014] The portable terminal 5 has a built-in RFID function, and is, for example, a smartphone. That is, the portable terminal 5 also functions as an RFID transmission means. The nurse carries his / her own portable terminal 5, and clocks in by holding the portable terminal 5 over the first card reader 8a when clocking in, and clocks out by holding the portable terminal 5 over the second card reader 8b when clocking out.

[0015] The nurse call system configured as above operates as follows. However, here, the operation of the control unit 4 in response to the clock-in / clock-out operation of the nurses and the calling operation by the operation of the handset 1 will be mainly explained. When a nurse clocks in by holding the portable terminal 5 over the first card reader 8a, the nurse's ID information stored in the RFID built into the portable terminal 5 is transmitted to the first card reader 8a, and the read ID information is transmitted to the control unit 4. The controller 4 that has received the ID information stores the mobile terminal 5 associated with the ID in the call-enabled terminal storage unit 43 as a terminal capable of transmitting a call signal under the control of the controller CPU 44. Specifically, when a call operation is made to the handset 1 to which the mobile terminal 5 is linked (the handset 1 associated in the handset / mobile storage unit 42), the handset 1 is registered as a mobile terminal 5 capable of transmitting a call signal.

[0016] Furthermore, when a nurse who has clocked out holds the mobile terminal 5 over the second card reader 8b, the mobile terminal information of the nurse who has clocked out is erased from the callable terminal memory unit 43, and the call signal cannot be sent.

[0017] Thus, for example, if a call is made from a patient in the first ward G1, a call signal is transmitted from the handset 1 to the control unit 4 via the corridor light 2. Upon receiving the call signal, the control unit 4 transmits the call signal to the base unit 3 in the first ward G1 and to the portable terminals 5 stored in the callable terminal storage unit 43 among the portable terminals 5 associated with the handset 1 under the control of the control unit CPU 44. At this time, if there are multiple portable terminals 5 associated with the handset 1, the call signal is transmitted to those multiple portable terminals 5. The base unit 3 and the mobile terminal 5 that have received the call signal perform a call notification operation such as sounding an alarm, and a communication path is established between the device that first responds and the handset 1. When the handset 1 in the second ward G2 is operated to make a call, a call signal is transmitted to the base unit 3 in the second ward G2 and the mobile terminal 5 of the nurse belonging to the second ward G2.

[0018] However, when there are fewer nurses on duty, such as at night, the mobile terminal 5 may be turned off when the nurse in charge leaves work, and there may be no mobile terminal 5 available to send a call signal when the handset 1 is operated to make a call. In that case, when the control machine CPU 44 recognizes from the information in the callable terminal storage unit 43 that there is no mobile terminal 5 available to send a call signal, it sends a predetermined call signal to the base unit 3 with information attached to the effect that the mobile terminal 5 will not be called. The base unit 3 receiving this call signal changes the ring tone to a specific tone different from the normal tone, and displays a pop-up or the like on both the first display unit 32 and the second display unit 33 to inform the user that there is no call on the mobile terminal 5. This specific call behavior different from the normal one makes the nurse at the nurse station aware that she or he must respond to the call.

[0019] In this way, when the mobile terminal 5 that receives the call from the handset 1 is off due to the absence of the nurse in charge, etc., and the call notification is not made to any device other than the base unit 3, the call operation of the base unit 3 is changed to a specific operation. This allows the nurse at the nurse's station to recognize the situation where there is no call from the mobile terminal 5, and prevents the situation where the call is left unattended.

[0020] Here, when a call is not made to the mobile terminal 5 in response to a call from the handset 1, the ring tone of the base unit 3 is changed and a display is displayed on the first display unit 32 and the second display unit 33 to notify the user. However, it is also possible to simply change the ring tone, or to simply display the information. [Explanation of symbols]

[0021] 1... Handset, 2... Corridor light, 3... Base unit, 4... Control unit, 5... Mobile terminal (RFID transmission means), 8 (8a, 8b)... Card reader (ID reading means), 41... Nurse information storage unit, 42... Handset / mobile storage unit, 43... Callable terminal storage unit, 44... Control unit CPU.

Claims

1. A nurse call system having a handset installed at each bed so that patients can call nurses, a base unit installed at a nurse's station so that nurses can respond to calls from the handset, a plurality of portable terminals carried by nurses to respond to calls from patients, and a controller for controlling communication between the devices, A nurse information storage unit that stores an association between a nurse and the mobile terminal; a handset / portable storage unit in which the portable terminal to be called is registered for each handset, When the handset is operated to call, the controller performs control to transmit a call signal to the base unit and also to the mobile terminal registered in the handset / mobile storage unit. This nurse call system is characterized in that, when the mobile terminal to which the call signal is to be sent is off and cannot be called, the calling operation of the parent unit is changed to a specific calling operation that is different from when the mobile terminal is called at the same time, and the parent unit notifies the user that the mobile terminal cannot be called.

2. 2. The nurse call system according to claim 1, wherein the specific call action is to change the ring tone to a predetermined ring tone.

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