Robots as nurses tools and assistants

We are currently facing a challenge called the “Nursing Shortage”. It is usually simply defined as the number of nurses not fulfilling the required supply. This situation has been noticed worldwide and considering current demographical trends it seems unlikely to resolve on its own. While this bleak outlook looks daunting we are also simultaneously experiencing another more general challenge with regards to the occupancy. That is to say, the intrusion of Artificial Intelligence upon the workforce. It is now dynamically disrupting our perception of jobs and how we handle a variety of tasks. While initially perceived as a threat and cause for massive unemployment, now we are increasingly considering it as an opportunity. However, bringing these technological advancements into the nursing occupancy requires cooperation between two, very different worlds. As such, we wish to help by creating a better understanding of the anticipated impact by outlining the framework of the perceived scope of changes in the nurses' structures and their tasks around the world. After doing we wish to provide an overview of how nurses' responsibilities and tasks can be either delegated or enhanced by the mechanical assistants. We differentiate here between the simple, routine activities and (non-)invasive procedures and finish with possibilities of enhancing the treatment with patients struggling with communicating. To conclude, our aim is to point out the more general trend of going away from Artificial Intelligence and into the Intelligence Augmentation. We wish to bring a better understanding of how this general, technological process is going to impact the field of nursing and midwifery. In order to do so, we wish to bring attention to not only what these new robots can do, but also to the symbiotic relationship between humans and machines, as it is studied in the fields of social and cognitive robotics.

Author(s): Blechar L

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