Patient support systems and methods for assisting caregivers with patient care

A patient support system for a patient, the patient support system comprising:

• a base;
• a patient support surface supported by the base;
• an actuator configured to move the patient disposed on the patient support surface relative to the base, the actuator being operable at different rates of actuation, wherein the different rates of actuation of the actuator defines a full range of available rates;
• a user input device configured to generate a user input signal, the user input device including a voice actuation interface;
• an identification device configured to identify a role of a caregiver adjacent to the patient support surface;
• and
• a controller disposed in communication with the actuator, the user input device, and the identification device, the controller being configured to:
• enable the voice actuation interface based on the identified role of the caregiver adjacent to the patient support surface determined by the identification device, and to
• transmit an output signal to the actuator to control the actuator to move the patient disposed on the patient support surface relative to the base in response to the user input signal generated by the voice actuation interface, and
• permit operation of the actuator across at least one of:
• the full range of available rates and less than the full range of available rates based on the identified role of the caregiver adjacent to the patient support surface determined by the identification device.