Nursing Robots Can Reduce Nursing Workload in General Adult Wards: A Two-Phase Study

Aim: This study aims to ascertain the range of nursing care tasks that can be performed by currently available nursing robots in general adult wards, as well as to quantify the extent to which these robots can potentially replace the nursing care workload when implemented. Background: The global shortage of nurses has emerged as a significant societal issue, and nursing robots may be a potential solution to alleviate this crisis. However, there is a dearth of empirical evidence regarding the specific tasks that nursing robots can effectively replace in general adult wards within hospitals and lacking comprehensive reports that quantify how much nursing workload can be reduced by nursing robots. Methods: This research utilizes a two-phase research design with a scoping review and cross-sectional survey, involving the searching and screening of 10 scientific databases to identify nursing robots suitable for deployment in general adult wards within hospital settings. Additionally, the study measures the 24 h nursing workload for all patients across 72 wards in six hospitals located in eastern, central, and western regions of China. Results: 199 studies were included in this scoping review. A total of 26 nursing functions that can be performed by nursing robots in general adult wards were summarized. 7073 hospitalized patients were included in this study. 26 nursing robots have the potential to substitute for 62.37% of the total nursing workload per capita. Conclusions: The use of nursing robots in general adult wards is promising. However, it is worth noting that while nursing programs with the largest share of nursing workload already have nursing robots in use, there are some robots whose development focus and direction need to be adapted to the needs of the clinical nursing workload. Implications for Nursing Management: It is imperative for nursing managers to receive training in order to increase their understanding of robotic nurses and to explore effective and optimized models for managing nursing human resources when robots and nurses collaborate. Simultaneously, the definition and development of core competencies for robotic specialized nurses need to be on the agenda.