Perceptions of reasons call lights are activated pre- and postintervention to decrease call light use.

Patients were assessed regarding the reasons for activating call lights. Top reasons were requests for pain medication, monitor/device alarms, and needing assistance. Nurse perceptions of the top 10 reasons for patients to activate call lights matched patient perceptions. After implementing interventions that anticipated patient needs, the likelihood of patients activating a call light decreased significantly for most needs, but call lights for nonspecific reasons, such as having caregivers check something, increased.