Nurse call pillow speaker with audio event detection and methods for same

A method of providing a nurse call audio signal to a pillow speaker, comprising:

• providing a pillow speaker having a patient interface device (PID) and a pillow speaker hub,
• wherein the pillow speaker hub is in communication with a nurse call system, and
• wherein the pillow speaker hub is further in communication with the PID;
• detecting, at the pillow speaker hub, a nurse call signal from the nurse call system, and asserting a nurse call indicator for the pillow speaker if a nurse call signal is detected;
• digitizing a nurse call audio signal received at a nurse call audio port of the pillow speaker hub and transmitting the digitized nurse call audio signal to the PID;
• receiving a digital nurse call microphone signal from the PID;
• and
• transmitting the digital nurse call microphone signal to the nurse call system as an analog microphone signal on the nurse call audio port.

A method of prioritizing audio signals in a pillow speaker, comprising:

• providing an audio signal to an audio output of the pillow speaker;
• receiving a nurse call indicator from a digital port of the pillow speaker;
• muting the audio signal;
• receiving a digital nurse call audio signal from the digital port;
• converting the digital nurse call audio signal to an analog nurse call audio signal and providing the analog nurse call audio signal to an audio output.