Through advanced and upgraded technology, such as robotic technologies, scientific studies have identified progressive nursing practices that can analyze research methods, evaluate medical results and illustrate the capability of biostatistics when it comes to medical and biological issues. This enables a combination of concepts and methods that evaluate the study of diseases within diverse groups in society and environmental health analysis that can be applied to advanced nursing practices. Below, we look at some of the ways that robotic technologies are being integrated into nursing practice:
Integration of Knowledge and Quality Improvement for Patients
Research has shown how the advancement of science can improve the quality of patient care and overall health. Reputable institutions such as Wilkes University offer the doctor of nursing practice online degree to prepare nurse leaders with the highest level of nursing experience to enable them to improve patient care and recovery times.
With a combination of online coursework and clinical hours, students gain experience in topics such as collaboration in healthcare delivery, leadership in advanced nursing practice and biostatistics. With a completion time of as little as two years, students are prepared to influence healthcare outcomes through healthcare policy implementation.
Robotic Technology in Nursing
Robot nurses are machines programmed to carry out nursing tasks and take on responsibilities that would usually be done by a human being. Their social engagement includes the distribution of medication, handling routine daily tasks and assisting by freeing time for nurses to focus on complex tasks, and lowering the burden of awkward tasks, especially in the event of a disease outbreak.
It may be challenging for some people to adapt to robot nurses who perform diagnostic activities, such as testing vital signs. Robot nurses can help patients by easily lifting them and moving them between different positions and providing help with emergency tasks. Robot nurses encourage social engagement by providing companionship to patients.
Robot nurses are helpful for resource distribution, such as delivering lab specimen samples, collecting food trays, maintenance of the facility, cleaning and disinfecting the environment. Nurses can control and guide the robot with the use of a remote control to perform specific tasks.
Types of robot nurses:
- Nursing robots handle nursing tasks
- Socially assistive robots promote social interaction
- Physically assistive robots help with tasks that require physical care
The advanced design of robot nurses:
- Artificial intelligence (AI) enables robot nurses to learn how to perform tasks skillfully
- A Wi-Fi network enables high-speed connectivity and communication with robots
- A robot can navigate around the facility safely with the use of sensors
- Robots are able to keep objects and resources safely packed in secure storage spaces
- Robotic arms move basic objects and handle complex tasks to assist nurses
- Some robots have LED lights to create facial expressions to display a friendly humanistic appearance
How Robot Nurses Can Affect the Future of Healthcare
Robot nurses have a positive impact on nursing professionals and patients by providing healthcare benefits. They increase productivity and efficiency in the workplace, help nurses by reducing physical strain, create a safer workplace, enhance social interaction, improve the patient’s comfort and have the potential to support faster recovery.
When nurses are struggling from a sheer increase in patient numbers, robot nurses help prevent nurse burnout. Some patients may have challenging personalities and robot nurses can intervene to reduce the frustrations that nurses may experience.
Where there is a shortage of nurses, robot nurses can assist temporarily until more nursing professionals are employed. Challenges that robot nurses face are acceptance by nurses and that their appearances may not be aesthetically pleasing. There are risks to data security and cybercrime. There could also be legal issues if a robot were to experience a malfunction. In addition, purchasing robot nurses does carry a high cost.
As advanced technologies evolve, there could be a threat to nurses being replaced with robotic nurses taking over a number of job positions. However, nurses also tend and administer medications to patients on a daily and regular basis, while monitoring their progress.
Creating An Efficient System Between Humans and Robots
Despite the surge in technological advancements, robots cannot compare with the human personal touch. Although robots are helpful and reduce the workload, they are not equipped with the emotions required to create a connection between the patient and the medical practitioner.
Robots function as they are programmed for specific tasks while humans naturally show empathy, communicate, provide attention to detail and share a sense of humor, commitment to continuous learning and leadership skills.
Fundamental Nurse Leader Technological Skills
The popularity of robot nurses has escalated over time and nurses have been required to adapt to the changes and learn basic technical skills and proficiency. Electronic health records (EHRs) need to be carefully maintained and patient vital signs need continuous monitoring, while a great deal of medical equipment is now computer-based medical equipment. It is important to ensure accurate maintenance of the medication administration system. Location sensors are used to monitor and track equipment, stock and personnel and to maintain the hospital staff alerts.
Assistive Robotic Systems in Healthcare
The theory in the use of assistive robotic systems in healthcare is to assist and relieve nursing staff, especially if the medical facility experiences a shortage of nurses. Technological advancements and realistic conclusions are important to ensure goal-oriented development and to identify assistive robotic systems and their areas of expertise in the nursing field.
Due to the high demand and shortage of skilled nurses, many nurses spend unnecessary working time on tasks that are not related to the patient, such as performing service tasks and taking on administration responsibilities, while enduring continuous interruptions.
Colleagues and patients may request assistance, patient alarms may go off and nurses may be required to answer telephone calls. These interruptions cause stress and decrease service delivery and nursing rosters. Robots can help to solve this problem, as the use of robots relieves stress, aids in service delivery and improves patient care quality.
Assistive robotic systems are separated into six fields of application:
Information and Patient Data Processing
Patients are admitted into the hospital with the aid of a robotic system. Task plans are implemented, and the system directs the patient to the correct department and the patient’s details are captured by the system.
Assistance with Activities of Daily Living
Robots can also support daily living activities to make everyday tasks easier while providing effective maintenance. Technical systems may include a step-by-step approach or create objectives and goals. This is highly beneficial for patients who struggle with dementia or mild cognitive impairment. Patients are guided by robots to use their hands and can also assist people struggling with neuromuscular diseases.
Fetch and Bring Activities
This is effective for pick-up and drop-off activities that can be separated into four areas, such as food and beverage services, medication delivery, reduced contact with patients who have an infection and user-related services.
Telepresence and Communication
This is important, and a key feature to interact with patients. There is a system for people with dementia or cognitive impairment that will focus on social-assistive functions. This system supports robotic communication between healthcare professionals, caregivers, families and patients. Communication is encouraged using tablets, audio players and touchscreen functions, which will protect staff from contracting the same infection or illness.
Monitoring, Safety, and Navigation
The patients’ vitals can be effectively monitored and documented with robotic technology. The robot can read the patient’s vital signs through an integrated camera or by recording the patient’s general health condition and mental state. Notifications are useful and help those who may be forgetful and need continuous reminders. This is not limited to medication reminders, but may also include personal hygiene, meals and regular drink reminders. The function of the navigation system is to support safe mobility. Robots can also lift and carry items such as IVs, oxygen equipment and drains.
Complex Assistance Systems
Complex assistance systems perform multiple tasks or activities for service areas, communication, safety, social development and employment. Individuals can provide information and engage in communication activities, such as an emergency call to a control center or a reminder for patients to take their prescribed medication. The system can also provide an entertainment function to activate music playbacks, gaming functions and video calls. It can detect movement in space, identify problems and provide light items such as medication or water, and perform simple pick-up and drop-off services.
The Advantage of Robotic Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation
Many physical therapists adopt sensing technology and robot interfaces. They will work with engineers to discover the ideal method to improve best practices for their patients.
Robots are used for telepresence, surgical assistance, rehabilitation, medical transportation, sanitation and disinfection and dispensing prescriptions, among other things. Robotic physical therapy assists medical practitioners with routine and daily tasks and helps ensure medical procedures are safer and less expensive for patients, including precision surgery and hazardous materials transportation.
Physical therapists have an important part to play in today’s healthcare and are vital for rehabilitation, performance progress and risk-reduction services. Assistive and therapeutic robotic devices have steadily become more popular and are improving at a fast rate. Robots assist patients in rehabilitation for serious conditions such as strokes.
Rehabilitation robots work to provide physical therapy for those with disabilities and help patients regain their mobility, strength and coordination, and recover their quality of life. Robots are programmed to adapt to the patient’s condition, whether they are recovering from a stroke, brain or spinal cord injuries, or suffering from a neurobehavioral or neuromuscular disease like multiple sclerosis (MS).
With the use of sensors, rehabilitation robots examine human physical behavior and body positioning. Although they are clinical interventions, they help with assessment improvements. Robots are programmed to measure and store the progress and limits of the patient’s performance and help determine the correct long-term diagnosis and treatment.
They can identify and measure slight changes in movements and forces. This assists the therapist in planning, re-evaluating and managing the treatment planning and setting a goal for recovery. As the need for nursing robots continues to grow, their role in the patient’s recovery becomes clear and displays the importance of their presence in the medical facility.
Rehabilitation robots include exoskeleton devices that the user can wear. The exoskeleton is positioned in a certain way to act as an amplifier to improve, strengthen and imitate the human body’s performance. The robot does the work for the patient. Studies have shown rehabilitation robots help improve the patient’s condition.
Robot Technology to Monitor and Manage Patient Progress
Robotic technology can be used to create a simple system that can establish, manage and monitor the patient’s condition. The platform can be installed using sensors at home to monitor the patient’s daily activities, behavior, habits, health and mood. The data gathered is interpreted by artificial intelligence to estimate the patient’s condition. The system can detect changes in mood, strange behavior and state of mind, especially if patients live alone. Robots can help identify the need for emotional coaching and can propose a treatment. Alerts can be sent to caregivers, family members or emergency services as part of the treatment.
The robot can analyze the data from the sensors on smartphone devices and wristbands. A simple system can have an affordable basic design that will help daily tasks remain consistent and aid the patient in a speedy recovery.
Robots monitoring the patient’s condition will help the professional save time trying to find the best treatment. The patient’s progress can be monitored through remote access and the physiotherapist can evaluate the patient’s condition and make changes to their medication or treatment if needed.
Technology has impacted the nursing field and the demand for nurses is higher than the availability of skilled nurses. By using the latest technology, nurses work with nursing robots to create an effective and calming atmosphere that aids the patient’s recovery.
Despite the advancements and improvements in technology, patients find more comfort in human presence rather than interacting with robots. Technology can seem alarming, particularly to those who do not feel comfortable around robots.
Conclusion
Due to fast-paced technological advancements, a nurse’s duties have become easier, and more accurate as the service delivery has improved. Digital records enable the rapid and precise monitoring of a patient’s condition with the help of robotic analytical capability. Nurses can create a professional relationship with patients to support their successful recovery. The growing resource of robotic nurses and enhanced technology support better communication between the patient and the medical practitioner, allowing nurses to allocate more time to focus on the patient and strive for optimal treatment.
