Design of a Wireless Patient Call System for Hospital Wards in Kano State

Patient call systems in Nigerian hospital wards improve nursing response efficiency and patient satisfaction, yet most wards in Kano State rely on verbal calling or manual bell systems that are inadequate for large open wards. This study designs and evaluates a wireless patient call system for hospital wards at a tertiary hospital in Kano State. The system comprises a bedside call unit for each patient bed, a central receiving unit at the nursing station, and an optional secondary display unit at the nurses' corridor station. Each bedside unit uses a simple push-button interface triggering an nRF24L01 wireless transceiver module connected to an ATmega328P microcontroller to transmit a unique bed identification code to the central unit. The central receiving unit displays the calling bed number on a 4-digit seven-segment display and activates an audible alarm tone distinct for different priority levels assigned by the patient or nurse. Wireless communication range testing confirmed reliable signal transmission across a 50-metre ward corridor with no line of sight obstacles. Battery life testing confirmed six-month service from two AA batteries in bedside units under normal ward use conditions. System latency from button press to central display indication was measured below one second. A pilot deployment in a thirty-bed general ward at Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital Kano over four weeks collected nursing staff feedback, with eighty-nine percent rating the system as superior to the existing manual bell system for response time. The study recommends integration with existing nurse call infrastructure and clinical evaluation of response time and patient satisfaction impact. Keywords: wireless patient call system, hospital ward, nursing response, microcontroller, Kano State.