JP7732730B2 - Nurse call system with consumables management function - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a nurse call system with a consumables management function that manages the usage and inventory status of consumables used each time a patient enters a hospital room.

Nurse call systems are commonly used in hospitals and nursing homes. These systems allow patients or care recipients (hereinafter simply referred to as "patients") to call a medical professional or caregiver (hereinafter simply referred to as "medical professional") by operating a call button or other means 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.

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 and exit of the patient's room, and a controller that controls call and data transmission and reception. In addition to the above configuration, nurse call systems are also available that include a mobile terminal (such as a PHS (Personal Handy Phone System) terminal) carried by medical staff and a PBX (Private Branch Exchange).

In this type of nurse call system, when a patient operates the call operation section of a nurse call handset, the nurse call handset outputs a call signal to a nurse call master unit, and the master unit that receives the call signal sounds an alarm from its speaker, lights/flashes a lamp provided for each patient, or displays a message on the display unit indicating that a call has been made, thereby alerting the patient to the call.

In addition, such nurse call systems sometimes record the date and time when the patient made the call and the date and time when the medical professional answered the call as a call history.

By the way, medical staff who respond to calls from patients or who are on rounds use consumables such as gloves, aprons, and masks when entering patient rooms. From the perspective of infection prevention, these consumables needed to be new or disinfected each time they visited a patient room.

Furthermore, when these consumables are stored in specific locations such as nurse stations or storage rooms, it is possible to ascertain the usage status of these consumables simply by periodically checking the inventory status of the consumables in these locations. One known technology involves placing a weight sensor in a box or similar that contains disposable gloves, and having the weight sensor detect the change in weight caused by the act of removing gloves from the box, thereby checking the usage status of the gloves (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-77907

However, if consumables are stored in each patient room or in multiple storage rooms, there is a problem that medical staff and others must periodically visit each location to check the usage status of the consumables, which is time-consuming. Furthermore, the technology described in Patent Document 1 requires weight sensors and other devices to be installed in each location, which increases costs.

The present invention was made to solve these problems, and aims to make it possible to grasp the usage status of consumables when consumables are placed in each hospital room or multiple storage rooms without increasing the labor and costs required for checking.

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 call calls at this location as the number of consumables used and notifies the user.

In addition, 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 sent that consumables are running low.

With the present invention configured as described above, since 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 go to each location to check the stock of consumables. Furthermore, since the number of consumables used is determined using the call history of an already installed nurse call system, there is no need to install weight sensors or the like at each location, thereby reducing costs.

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. A figure showing an example of information stored in the memory unit of the nurse call parent unit. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the display unit of the nurse call master unit. FIG.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a nurse call system with a consumables management function according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the nurse call system according to this embodiment is composed of 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 or a smartphone) 8.

The nurse call handset 1 consists of a wall unit that is embedded in the wall of each bedside in a 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 on the wall unit, or a grip button may be connected to the wall unit in addition to or instead of the handheld handset.

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 that distinguishes 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.

Hallway lights 2 are installed on the hallway side near the entrances and exits of each hospital room. These hallway lights 2 are equipped with a display device that displays the name of the patient in the 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 it may be a combination of a plate bearing information such as the patient's name and an indicator light.

The control unit 3 is installed between the corridor light 2 and the nurse call base unit 4, and controls calls and data transmission and reception. The nurse call base unit 4 notifies the patient (nurse call handset 1) of calls and responds to calls from patients, and is installed in a nurse's station or similar location.

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

As shown in FIG. 1, the nurse call base unit 4 is configured with 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.

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

The notification unit 43 is composed of at least one device: an audio output device such as a speaker, a display device such as a display, or 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. At this time, the base unit control unit 41 notifies the location (i.e., bed number) from which the call is being made based on the handset identification information contained in the received call signal using the display device or lighting device, while outputting a notification sound from the speaker. In this embodiment, the nurse call system also notifies the mobile terminal 8 in addition to the nurse call base unit 1, as will be described later.

The response operation unit 44 is composed of a handset or the like, and is operated by a medical professional when the handset is off-hook. 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.

The memory unit 45 stores, in association with each other, a bed number indicating the handset identification information of the nurse call handset 1, patient information indicating the patient using the bed identified by that bed number, and the mobile terminal number indicating the mobile terminal 8 that notifies the patient of a call. Here, the bed number information consists of hospital room number information indicating the number of the 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.

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 references the memory 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 references the memory 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. The call signal output by the base unit interface 42 is appended with the identification information of the mobile terminal 8 to be called. As a result, the mobile terminal main unit 5 and PBX 6 specify the mobile terminal 8 to be called and make the call.

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

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 memory unit 45. The nurse call base unit 4 that input the response signal also stops the operation of the alert unit 43 using the base unit control unit 41.

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

The consumable usage 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 usage quantity information from the consumable inventory quantity information entered using an operation unit (not shown). In the example shown in Figure 2, the initially entered consumable inventory quantity information is 50, and in consumable storage information 101, the consumable usage quantity information is 15 and the consumable inventory quantity information is 35. In consumable storage information 102, the consumable usage quantity information is 21 and the consumable inventory quantity information is 29. In consumable storage information 103, the consumable usage quantity information is 8 and the consumable inventory quantity information is 42. In consumable storage information 104, the consumable usage quantity information is 10 and the consumable inventory quantity information is 40.

The display unit 46 displays the consumables management information acquired as described above. The parent device control unit 41 references the memory unit 45 to extract consumables storage location information, consumables usage count information, and consumables inventory information, and causes the display unit 46 to display a screen such as that shown in Figure 3.

In this embodiment, consumable usage quantity information and consumable inventory quantity information are acquired and displayed, but consumable usage quantity information is essential information, and consumable inventory quantity information can be displayed as needed. Here, if only consumable usage quantity information is displayed, medical professionals and others will need to know the approximate inventory quantity.

As explained in detail above, according to this embodiment, the location where consumables are stored is set as consumable storage 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.

As a result, since 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 go to each location to check the stock of consumables. Furthermore, since the number of consumables used is determined using the call history of the nurse call system that is already installed, there is no need to install weight sensors or the like at each location, which reduces costs.

In the above-described embodiment, the number of consumables used and other information is displayed on the display unit 46 provided on the nurse call master unit 4, but this is not limited to this. For example, the number of consumables used and other information may be displayed on a mobile terminal 8 carried by a medical professional.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, only the number of consumables used and the number of consumables in stock are displayed, but this is not limited to this. For example, if the number of consumables used exceeds a predetermined value, or if the number of consumables in stock falls below a predetermined value, a notification may be sent via the nurse call base unit 4 or 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.

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 in stock may be updated by entering the number of items replenished.

Furthermore, the above-described embodiment is merely one example of a concrete implementation of the present invention, and should not be interpreted as limiting the technical scope of the present invention. In other words, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from its spirit or main characteristics.

1 Nurse call handset 2 Corridor light 3 Controller 4 Nurse call base unit 5 Main unit for mobile terminal 6 PBX
7 Radio base station 8 Portable terminal 41 Base unit control unit 42 Base unit interface 43 Notification unit 44 Response operation unit 45 Storage unit 46 Display unit

Claims (2)

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: 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.