Robotics in Nursing: A Scoping Review.

Purpose: Driven by the shortage in qualified nurses and the high percentage of aging populations, the past decade has witnessed a significant growth in the use of robots in nursing, especially in countries like Japan. This article is a scoping review of the different tracks in which robots are used in nursing. Whereas assistive robots are used for physical care, including service and monitoring tasks, social assistive robots focus on the cognitive and emotional well-being of patients in need of companionship.

Methods: A total of six electronic databases were used in the search for journal papers and conference proceedings. The key words used in searching the databases were nursing OR nurses, AND robots OR robotics. Topics covering surgical robotics, nursing education robotics, and clinical procedures were excluded.

Findings: A total of 1,758 articles were retrieved, from which 69 articles were included in the final review. The analysis of the chosen papers led to the categorization of robots into two main categories: assistive robots and social assistive robots.

Conclusions: After a detailed review of the state of the art in assistive robots and social assistive robots, an insight into the future of robotics in this field is provided. The recommendations include the need to intensify research on human robot interaction, greater focus on monitoring robots, and analysis of the psychological barriers that need to be surmounted to achieve more tolerance and higher acceptance of robots.

Clinical Relevance: For researchers and developers to provide suitable technological solutions, a full understanding of robotics in nursing is needed. An overview of the most recent applications and their proper categorization is key to finding areas for contribution.