Adaptation of a novice robotic nurse team to the Medtronic Hugo RAS system

Implementation of new technology can influence the surgical team's performance.

To investigate a novice robotic nurse team's learning curves and mental load on the Medtronic Hugo RAS system.

An observer noted the nurses' surgical tasks performed on the Hugo. All nurses completed two questionnaires about mental load (SURG-TLX) and technology acceptance (TAM) following surgery.

Twenty robot-assisted inguinal hernia repairs were performed with no observable plateau in the learning curve for the preoperative and perioperative phases. On average, the researchers found a slightly higher score for the scrub nurse's mental load (median 27 points, IQR 14-47) than the circulating nurse (median 14.5 points, IQR 10-38).

There was no observable plateau in the learning curve for the pre- and perioperative tasks. The scrub nurse function had a higher mental load than the circulating nurse function, with one nurse having a mental load score above the recommended level.