Virtually every person who has ever been in a hospital or nursing home has seen the “call light” near the patient/resident’s bed. People believe, somewhat in error, that pressing the call light brings immediate assistance. This is frequently not the case. Lack of adequate nursing staff frequently leads to long delays and many times forcing the person out of their bed on their own to get to the bathroom to avoid an embarrassing incident.
This frequently leads to severe physical injury, including hip fractures and even death. Delay in call light response is a threat to patient safety, not a mere inconvenience.