Have clinical staff wear locator badges
At Swedish Medical Center's ED in Seattle, WA, all clinical staff wear locator badges [manufactured by Versus, based in Traverse City, MI] that identify where specific individuals are located, both via a light above the patient rooms and on a tracking view of a computer. (See resource box, below, for ordering information.)
"The badges do not indicate if staff members are in bathrooms or out of the department, so if they are not on the locator board, you can assume one or the other," says Judy Street, RN, manager of emergency services.
If a patient is calling for his or her nurse, or if a doctor is looking for another physician, they are easily located. A call can be placed to the patient's room, for example, to determine if someone else needs to respond or that a nurse already has taken responsibility, says Street. "This helps us avoid the 'hunt' process we all experience that is both time-consuming and frustrating," she says.
Four tracking boards are located throughout the ED, but even if nurses are in a hallway away from the tracking board, it's easy for them to tell where a nurse, physician, or technician is located by looking above the patient rooms. "In addition, if a patient's light is flashing and the staff indicator light is on above the room or in the room, then there is no duplication of staff responding," says Street.
Source/Resource
For more information, contact:
- Judy Street, RN, Manager, Emergency Services, First Hill Campus, Swedish Medical Center, 747 Broadway, Seattle, WA 98122-4307. Telephone: (206) 386-2592. E-mail: [email protected].
Staff locator badges manufactured by Versus integrate with SimplexGrinnell's 500 Nurse Call System. The cost of the badges is approximately $60 per badge, but they require hardwired cable infrastructure along with computer hardware and software for a complete system. For more information, contact: Barry Reimer, Electronic System Sales, SimplexGrinnell, 9520 10th Ave. S., Suite 100, Seattle, WA. 98108. Phone: (206) 291-1400, ext. 1441. Fax: (206) 291-1500. E-mail: [email protected].
At Swedish Medical Center's ED in Seattle, WA, all clinical staff wear locator badges [manufactured by Versus, based in Traverse City, MI] that identify where specific individuals are located, both via a light above the patient rooms and on a tracking view of a computer.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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