Austco Tacera Nurse Call System

Austco Tacera is an IP nurse call and clinical communication platform designed for hospitals, medical centres, clinics and elderly care facilities. It connects patients, nurses and clinical staff in real time, and the alerts and workflows can be tailored to each department.

What the system does well

• Passes patient calls to staff in real time
• Lets you define call types and event priority levels
• Supports two-way voice between patient and staff
• Shows the room, bed and type of request clearly
• Forwards alerts to nurse stations, smartphones and nominated devices
• Records the event, call time, response time and duration of care
• Supports clinical workflows built around the hospital's own procedures
• Connects to external systems through an API, without middleware for some integrations
• Expands to match the number of rooms, beds, buildings or service areas

Call types and alerting

Tacera can define several call types so that staff understand what is needed before they reach the patient, for example:

• General nurse call
• Assistance from the bathroom
• Emergency call
• Resuscitation team or Code Blue
• Request for additional staff assistance
• Staff duress alert
• Alerts from medical equipment
• Specific requests, such as pain, water or housekeeping

Call types and priority levels can be set to match each hospital's policy.

Voice communication

Bedside devices and pillow speakers support two-way voice, so patients can talk to a nurse directly. Staff can assess the situation and set priorities before travelling to the patient's room.

RTLS location tracking

Supported Tacera hardware can work with a Real-Time Location System (RTLS) within the nurse call architecture. Staff or patients wear electronic badges that communicate with detectors inside the building. The system can be used to:

• Show the location of staff or patients
• Record room entry and time spent in the room
• Detect staff presence automatically
• Cancel or advance a call according to the workflow
• Raise an emergency from a wearable badge or mobile duress device
• Record location and time data for later review

RTLS capability depends on the devices, modules and system design chosen for the installation.

Mobile working

Used together with Pulse Mobile, staff can receive and manage alerts on a mobile device. That reduces the need to stay at the nurse station and shortens the time it takes to reach a patient.

The information shown may include

• Call type and priority
• Room or bed location
• Acknowledgement status
• Messages and workflow steps
• Remote system control functions
• VoIP calling, depending on the project configuration

Reporting and analysis

Used together with Pulse Reports, managers and department heads can analyse system data, such as:

• Number of calls
• Response time
• Duration of care
• The event types that occur most often
• Patient visits
• Performance by area or department
• History for auditing and service quality review

The Tacera Pulse platform also includes Pulse Mobile, Pulse Reports and the Pulse Web Services API for linking data with other clinical systems.

Compatible devices

The components vary with the project design, but typically include:

• Bedside nurse call buttons
• Patient stations or smart call points
• Pillow speakers and call leads
• Bathroom call buttons and pull cords
• Emergency and Code Blue buttons
• Staff presence buttons
• Over-door status lights
• Corridor displays
• Touchscreen nurse stations
• Staff applications
• RTLS badges for staff or patients
• Management, alerting and reporting software

Benefits for the hospital

Tacera shortens response times, reduces the risk of a call going unanswered, puts team communication on a proper footing, and provides historical data for improving service quality. It also supports future integration and expansion, making it a good fit for Smart Hospital projects that want nurse call, clinical communication, workflow, mobile and analytics on a single platform.

Note: The functions actually available depend on the device model, software, licences, network and installation scope of each project. Confirm the equipment list and integrations with your distributor before finalising a specification.