Nurse call system with consumables management function

Abstract

To make it possible to grasp use situations of consumables without a man-hour for confirmation increasing costs when the consumables are placed in respective sickrooms and a plurality of supplied storage.SOLUTION: A place where consumables are placed by the consumable storage place corresponding to each sickroom or a plurality of sickrooms is set, and frequency of nurse calls in this place is determined as the number of used consumables and displayed. Here, because it is highly likely for a medical worker to visit a sickroom making a call, responding to the nurse call, frequency of nurse calls in the place where consumables are placed is determined as the number of used consumables. Thus, it is possible to reduce man-hours of medical workers or the like to go to each place to check a stock of consumables, to determine the number of used consumables by using a call history of the nurse call system already installed, and there is no need to install a weight sensor or the like in each place, hence possible cost reduction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a nurse call system with a consumables management function that has the function of managing the usage and inventory status of consumables that are used each time a patient enters a hospital room. [Background technology]

[0002] Nurse call systems are generally used in hospitals, nursing homes, etc. This nurse call system is designed so that when a patient in a hospital needs support from a medical professional such as a nurse, or when a care recipient in a nursing home needs support from a caregiver, the patient or care recipient (hereinafter simply referred to as "patient") can call a medical professional or caregiver (hereinafter simply referred to as "medical professional") by operating a call button or the like.

[0003] Many nurse call systems are configured with a nurse call handset installed near the bed in the patient's room, a nurse call base unit installed in the nurse's station, a hallway light installed on the hallway side near the entrance to the patient's room, and a controller that controls the sending and receiving of calls and data.In addition to the above configuration, nurse call systems are also available that include a mobile terminal (e.g., a PHS (Personal Handy Phone System) terminal) carried by medical staff and a PBX (Private Branch Exchange).

[0004] In such a nurse call system, when a patient operates the call operation unit of a nurse call handset, the nurse call handset outputs a call signal to a nurse call master unit, and the nurse call master unit that inputs the call signal sounds an alarm from a speaker, lights / flashes a lamp provided for each patient, or displays on a display unit that a call has been made, thereby notifying the patient of the call.

[0005] Furthermore, in such nurse call systems, the date and time when the patient made the call and the date and time when the medical staff responded to the call are sometimes recorded as call history.

[0006] Incidentally, medical personnel who respond to calls from patients or who are on rounds use consumables such as gloves, aprons, and masks when entering a patient's room. From the perspective of infection prevention, these consumables need to be new or disinfected each time they visit a patient's room.

[0007] Furthermore, when these consumables are stored in specific locations such as a nurse's station or a storage room, it is possible to grasp the usage status of these consumables simply by periodically checking the inventory status of the consumables at this location. Here, there is known a technology for checking the usage status of gloves by placing a weight sensor in a box or the like that stores disposable gloves, and having the weight sensor detect a change in weight that occurs when a glove is removed from the box (for example, Patent Document 1, etc.). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-77907 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0009] However, when consumables are placed in each patient room or multiple storage rooms, there is a problem that medical staff or the like must periodically check each location to check the usage status of the consumables, which increases the man-hours required. Also, the technology described in Patent Document 1 requires weight sensors or the like to be installed in each location, which increases the cost.

[0010] The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and aims to make it possible to grasp the usage status of consumables without increasing the man-hours and costs required for checking when consumables are placed in each hospital room or in multiple supply cabinets. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention sets the location where consumables are stored for each hospital room or for a consumable storage area corresponding to multiple hospital rooms, and determines the number of nurse calls at this location as the number of consumables used and notifies the user.

[0012] According to another aspect of the present invention, the number of remaining consumables is notified by subtracting the number of consumables used from the number of consumables in stock, or when the number of remaining consumables falls below a preset threshold, a notification is made that consumables are running low. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] According to the present invention configured as described above, because there is a high possibility that a medical professional will visit the patient's room in response to a nurse call, the number of nurse calls at the location where the consumables are stored is determined as the number of consumables used, thereby reducing the amount of work required for medical professionals to check the stock of consumables at each location.In addition, because the number of consumables used is determined using the call history of the nurse call system already installed, there is no need to install weight sensors or the like at each location, which reduces costs. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a nurse call system with a consumables management function according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] A figure showing an example of information stored in the memory unit of the nurse call parent unit. [Figure 3] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the display unit of the nurse call master unit. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a nurse call system with a consumables management function according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the nurse call system according to this embodiment is configured with a nurse call handset 1, a hallway light 2, a controller 3, a nurse call base unit 4, a mobile terminal main unit 5, a private branch exchange (PBX) 6, a wireless base station 7, and a mobile terminal (e.g., a PHS terminal, a smartphone, etc.) 8.

[0016] The nurse call handset 1 is composed of a wall unit that is embedded in the wall of each bedside in the hospital room and a handheld handset that is connected to the wall unit and has a call operation unit. The call operation unit may be provided in the wall unit, or a grip push button may be connected to the wall unit in addition to or instead of the handheld handset.

[0017] When the call operation unit of the nurse call handset 1 is operated, the nurse call handset 1 generates and outputs a call signal. Here, the call signal includes handset identification information for distinguishing this nurse call handset 1 from other nurse call handset 1. This handset identification information uses information such as the bed number of the bed in which the nurse call handset 1 is installed.

[0018] Corridor lights 2 are installed on the corridor side near the entrances and exits of each hospital room. These corridor lights 2 are equipped with a display device that displays the name of the patient in the hospital room and, when a patient in the room uses a nurse call handset 1 to call a medical professional, displays a message that the call has been made. The display device may be an electronic device such as an LCD display, or may be a combination of a plate bearing information such as the patient's name and an indicator light.

[0019] The control unit 3 is installed between the corridor light 2 and the nurse call base unit 4, and controls the sending and receiving of calls and data. The nurse call base unit 4 is used to notify calls from patients (nurse call handsets 1) and to respond to calls from patients, and is installed in a nurse's station or the like.

[0020] The mobile terminal main unit 5 controls the sending and receiving of calls and data to and from mobile terminals 8 carried by medical personnel via a PBX 6. This mobile terminal main unit 5 is installed, for example, in a communication center within a hospital, and is connected to a nurse call base unit 4. A wireless base station 7 is connected to the PBX 6 and is used for wireless communication of calls and data with the mobile terminals 8.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 1, the nurse call base unit 4 is configured to include a base unit control unit 41, a base unit interface 42, an alarm unit 43, a response operation unit 44, a memory unit 45, and a display unit 46.

[0022] Base unit control unit 41 controls each component of nurse call base unit 4 as described below, and is composed of a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc. Base unit interface 42 is connected to controller 3 and electrically connects nurse call base unit 4 and controller 3. Base unit interface 42 is also connected to mobile terminal main unit 5 and electrically connects nurse call base unit 4 and mobile terminal main unit 5. As a result, nurse call base unit 4 inputs the call signal output from nurse call handset 1 via corridor light 2 and controller 3.

[0023] The notification unit 43 is composed of at least one device selected from the group consisting of an audio output device such as a speaker, a display device such as a display, and a lighting device such as a lamp. When the base unit interface 42 receives a call signal from the control unit 3, the base unit control unit 41 activates the notification unit 43. Based on the handset identification information included in the received call signal, the base unit control unit 41 notifies the location (i.e., the bed number) of the call source using the display device or lighting device, and outputs a notification sound from the speaker. In the nurse call system of this embodiment, notifications are also made by the mobile terminal 8 in addition to the nurse call base unit 1, as will be described later.

[0024] The response operation unit 44 is configured with a handset or the like, and is operated by a medical professional when the medical professional off-hooks the handset. When the response operation unit 44 is operated while the alarm unit 43 is operating, the base unit control unit 41 stops the operation of the alarm unit 43 and generates a response signal. The response signal generated by the base unit control unit 41 is output to the nurse call handset 1 by the base unit interface 42 via the controller 3 and the corridor light 2.

[0025] Storage unit 45 stores, in association with each other, a bed number indicating the handset identification information of nurse call handset 1, patient information indicating the patient using the bed identified by the bed number, and a mobile terminal number indicating mobile terminal 8 that notifies of calls from patients. Here, bed number information is made up of hospital room number information indicating the number of a hospital room and number information set according to the number of beds installed in that hospital room. For example, if there are four beds installed in hospital room number 101, the bed number information will be 101-1, 101-2, 101-3, and 101-4.

[0026] Here, when the base unit interface 42 receives a call signal from the control unit 3, the base unit control unit 41 activates the notification unit 43 and, at the same time, refers to the storage unit 45 to extract the bed number, which is the handset identification information of the nurse call handset 1 that made the call, as well as the team information and patient information stored in association with that bed number. The base unit control unit 41 also refers to the storage unit 45 to extract the mobile terminal number stored in association with the handset identification information, and outputs a call signal to the mobile terminal main unit 5 via the base unit interface 42 in accordance with this mobile terminal number. Here, the call signal output by the base unit interface 42 is accompanied by identification information of the mobile terminal 8 to be called. As a result, the mobile terminal main unit 5 and the PBX 6 specify the mobile terminal 8 to be called and make the call.

[0027] In this way, an alert is made by nurse call base unit 4 and mobile terminal 8, and when a response is made by operating response operation unit 44 of nurse call base unit 4, base unit control unit 41 stops the operation of notification unit 43 and generates a response signal. The response signal generated by base unit control unit 41 is output by base unit interface 42 to nurse call handset 1 via controller 3 and corridor light 2. The response signal is also output to mobile terminal main unit 5, which stops the alert of mobile terminal 8 that made the call.

[0028] On the other hand, when the mobile terminal 8 that issued the alert responds, a response signal is output from the mobile terminal 8 to the nurse call handset 1 via the wireless base station 7, PBX 6, mobile terminal main unit 5, nurse call base unit 4, controller 3, and corridor light 2. The mobile terminal main unit 5 that input the response signal stops the alerts of the other mobile terminals 8. The base unit control unit 41 also records call date and time information indicating the date and time of the call, the mobile terminal number of the mobile terminal 8 that responded to the call, and response date and time information indicating the date and time of the response as call history information in the storage unit 45. The nurse call base unit 4 that input the response signal also causes the base unit control unit 41 to stop operation of the alert unit 43.

[0029] The storage unit 45 also stores consumable management information based on consumable storage location information, consumable usage count information, and separately input consumable inventory information. The consumable storage location information is stored based on the above-mentioned hospital room number information. Here, if a consumable storage location is installed in each hospital room, the consumable storage location information matches the hospital room number information as in this embodiment, and nurse call handsets 1 installed in the same hospital room are stored as one group. Note that if consumable storage locations are installed in multiple locations, the consumable storage location information is made up of multiple hospital room number information. In this case, it is preferable that the multiple hospital room number information be set based on the distance from the consumable storage location and the movement of medical staff.

[0030] Furthermore, the consumable use quantity information corresponds to the number of calls made by the nurse call handset 1 installed in each hospital room for each room number identified by the consumable storage information. The consumable inventory quantity information is a value obtained by subtracting the consumable use quantity information from the consumable inventory quantity information input via an operation unit (not shown). In the example shown in FIG. 2, the initially input consumable inventory quantity information is 50, and in consumable storage information 101, the consumable use quantity information is 15 and the consumable inventory quantity information is 35. In consumable storage information 102, the consumable use quantity information is 21 and the consumable inventory quantity information is 29. In consumable storage information 103, the consumable use quantity information is 8 and the consumable inventory quantity information is 42. In consumable storage information 104, the consumable use quantity information is 10 and the consumable inventory quantity information is 40.

[0031] The display unit 46 displays the acquired consumable supply management information as described above. The master device control unit 41 refers to the memory unit 45 to extract the consumable supply storage location information, the consumable supply usage number information, and the consumable supply inventory number information, and causes the display unit 46 to display a screen such as that shown in FIG.

[0032] In this embodiment, information on the number of consumables used and information on the number of consumables in stock are acquired and displayed, but information on the number of consumables used is essential information, and information on the number of consumables in stock may be displayed as needed. Here, if only information on the number of consumables used is displayed, medical personnel and the like need to know the approximate number of consumables in stock.

[0033] As explained in detail above, according to this embodiment, the location where consumables are stored is set as consumable storage area information for each hospital room or for each consumable storage area corresponding to multiple hospital rooms, and the number of nurse calls at this location is determined to be the number of consumables used and is displayed on the display unit.

[0034] This means that, because there is a high possibility that a medical professional will visit the patient's room in response to a nurse call, the number of nurse calls at the location where the consumables are kept is determined as the number of consumables used, reducing the amount of work required for medical professionals to go to each location to check the stock of consumables. Also, because the number of consumables used is determined using the call history of the nurse call system already installed, there is no need to install weight sensors or the like at each location, reducing costs.

[0035] In the above-described embodiment, the number of consumables used and the like are displayed on the display unit 46 provided on the nurse call master unit 4, but this is not limiting. For example, the number of consumables used and the like may be displayed on the mobile terminal 8 carried by the medical staff.

[0036] In the above-described embodiment, only the number of consumables used and the number of consumables in stock are displayed, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when the number of consumables used exceeds a predetermined value, or when the number of consumables in stock falls below a predetermined value, a notification may be sent via the nurse call base unit 4 or the mobile terminal 8. This eliminates the need for medical personnel to constantly check the number of consumables used and the number of consumables in stock.

[0037] When replenishing consumables, if only the number of consumables used is displayed, the number of consumables used may be reset. When replenishing consumables, if the number of consumables in stock is displayed, the number of consumables in stock may be updated by inputting the replenished quantity.

[0038] Furthermore, the above-described embodiment is merely an example of a specific embodiment for carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited thereby. In other words, the present invention can be carried out in various forms without departing from its spirit or main characteristics. [Explanation of symbols]

[0039] 1 Nurse call handset 2. Hallway lights 3. Controller 4 Nurse call base unit 5. Main unit for mobile terminals 6 PBX 7. Radio base stations 8. Mobile devices 41 Parent unit control unit 42 Parent unit interface 43 Information Department 44 Response operation unit 45 Storage section 46 Display section

Claims

1. A nurse call handset that is installed near the bed in the hospital room and accepts calls from patients; A nurse call base unit has a storage unit that stores the nurse call handset as a group by consumable storage area, a base unit control unit that counts the number of calls made by the nurse call handset by the consumable storage area, and a display unit that displays the number of calls counted by the base unit control unit as the number of consumables used; A nurse call system with a consumables management function, characterized by comprising:

2. The nurse call system with consumable management function described in claim 1, characterized in that the memory unit stores consumable inventory information indicating the inventory number of consumables for each consumable storage area, and the parent unit control unit subtracts consumable usage number information, which is the number of times the consumables are used, from the consumable inventory information and displays the result on the display unit.