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. 2020 Dec 1:2:585656.
doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2020.585656. eCollection 2020.

The Upcoming Role for Nursing and Assistive Robotics: Opportunities and Challenges Ahead

Eftychios G Christoforou  1 , Sotiris Avgousti  2 , Nacim Ramdani  3 , Cyril Novales  3 , Andreas S Panayides  4
Affiliations

The Upcoming Role for Nursing and Assistive Robotics: Opportunities and Challenges Ahead

Eftychios G Christoforou et al. Front Digit Health. .

Abstract

As an integral part of patient care, nursing is required to constantly adapt to changes in the healthcare system, as well as the wider financial and societal environment. Among the key factors driving these changes is the aging of population. Combined with an existing shortage of nursing and caregiving professionals, accommodating for the patients and elderly needs within hospitals, elderly-care facilities and at a home setting, becomes a societal challenge. Amongst the technological solutions that have evolved in response to these developments, nursing and assistive robotics claim a pivotal role. The objective of the present study is to provide an overview of today's landscape in nursing and assistive robotics, highlighting the benefits associated with adopting such solutions in standard clinical practice. At the same time, to identify existing challenges and limitations that essentially outline the area's future directions. Beyond technological innovation, the manuscript also investigates the end-users' angle, being a crucial parameter in the success of robotics solutions operating within a healthcare environment. In this direction, the results of a survey designed to capture the nursing professionals' perspective toward more informed robotics design and development are presented.

Keywords: connected health; eHealth; healthcare robotics; nursing robots; physically-assistive robots; robotics; socially-assistive robots.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
ENDORSE project proof-of-concept mobile robotic fleet [http://www.endorse-project.eu/]. Robotnik's RB-1 robot is used with different, easily swappable, and mountable hardware modules. From left to right, a robotic arm (Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain), a carrier component for logistic tasks (Robotnik, Spain), and an e-diagnostic module for vital signs acquisition (StreamVision, France) and communication to a cloud-based electronic health record (EHR) system (University of Cyprus, Cyprus).
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A,B) Perceived behavioral control.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Subjective norm.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(A) Subjective norm and (B) Safety and privacy considerations.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(A) Safety and privacy considerations and (B) Operational perspective.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Operational perspective.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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