Relationship of actual response time to call lights and patient satisfaction at 4 US hospitals.

This multihospital study examined patient satisfaction with items of "received help as soon as possible" and "help to the bathroom" and their relationship to the actual response time to call lights. We found that faster actual response time to call lights contributed to higher patient satisfaction with "received help as soon as possible." The relationship between response time and patient satisfaction with "help to the bathroom" was not supported.