Robots, automation, and A.I. tech to replace nurses?

Sour Lemon · May 7, 2018

Think our jobs are safe, think again. The next generation of nurses might look and sound a little different.
Robot helps nurses schedule tasks on labor floor | MIT News
Robotic nurses: No substitute for real RNs - American Nurse Today
Robotic Nurses | Computers and Robots: Decision-Makers in an Automated World
Robot Nurses Will Make Shortages Obsolete
What say you, nurses of allnurses? Has anyone encountered similar innovation in their facility?

I'm not worried ...but I have a patient here and there that I'd love to send "my robot" to see instead of having to go in person.

DannyBoy8, RN · May 7, 2018

I'm not worried ...but I have a patient here and there that I'd love to send "my robot" to see instead of having to go in person.

By not worried, do you mean that you don't think deep and machine learning will lead to advanced technology; or that they will, but the technology won't jeopardize nursing positions that require a pulse?

or, you couldn't be bothered either way - which is fair too, I'm just curious.

Sour Lemon · May 7, 2018

By not worried, do you mean that you don't think deep and machine learning will lead to advanced technology; or that they will, but the technology won't jeopardize nursing positions that require a pulse?
or, you couldn't be bothered either way - which is fair too, I'm just curious.

Both. By the time we get to that point (if we do), everything in society will be so completely different that it's not worth while to trouble-shoot at this point. It's like trying to pick out a hat to go with a dress in the year two million when you have no idea what the dress will look like ..or if people will even be wearing dresses then ...or if there will even be people.

brownbook · May 7, 2018

Both. By the time we get to that point (if we do), everything in society will be so completely different that it's not worth while to trouble-shoot at this point. It's like trying to pick out a hat to go with a dress in the year two million when you have no idea what the dress will look like ..or if people will even be wearing dresses then ...or if there will even be people.

This is brilliant. It is good to be prepared, but your analogy is right on. Did you dream that up yourself?

Sour Lemon · May 7, 2018

This is brilliant. It is good to be prepared, but your analogy is right on. Did you dream that up yourself?

I think so, but who knows? There's a constant flow of garbage in and garbage out when it comes to my mind.

brownbook · May 7, 2018

Anyway I'm not worried for myself. I'm already retired. I do feel concerned for my children and grandchildren in whatever job they have or might have.

But Sour Lemon's post puts it in perspective.

DannyBoy8, RN · May 7, 2018

Anyway I'm not worried for myself. I'm already retired. I do feel concerned for my children and grandchildren in whatever job they have or might have.
But Sour Lemon's post puts it in perspective.

I disagree with the perspective that these advancements are so far off to warrant the aforementioned attitude. Drivers have been successfully automated to a degree. While the cognitive expenditure of driving a car isn't the same as providing nursing care, they're both complicated in their own respective ways.

We're really only 15-20 years away, if not less, from a computerized clinician capable of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment that will be monitored by a human counterpart. We might not be able to see the dress in its finished form, but we know kind of fabric will be used and who is going to piece it together.

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · May 7, 2018

Ive seen what happens when non nursing types code nursing documentation software and it is abysmal. I would love to see them teach them how to do what we do. At least right now. Down the road sure it could be a thing. Right now Im not worried.

KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN · May 7, 2018

Oh, I would like to see it done for... SOME patients.

"Thank you for choosing Our Health Center. This is your friendly Electronic Nurse. Help is on the way. Your call will be answered in the order it was received. This is your last alloted call out of limit of 35 calls placed within the last 60 min. After this call is answered, 30 min mandatory break will be applied. You can disconnect your call at any moment. You now have 1 hour 47 min left till you next pain shot, 1230 kcal and 8 carb units allowed for lunch and dinner and 1200 cc of free fluid allowance. Thank you for your patience and enjoy your hospital stay. Thank you again for choosing Our Health Center!"

Pleasant music.

Double-Helix, BSN, RN · May 8, 2018

I'm intrigued, but not threatened. There are many less conplex and more profitable medical professions to automate than nursing. Nurses use far more critical thinking, nursing judgement and therapeutic communication to guide our care than most non-nurses realize.

Why my patient gets picked up from the unit by a robotic anesthesiologist that takes the patient for a robotic surgery performed without supervision (and indeed one day they may), I'll start to worry about my job.

I think this quote from your last article link said it best about robots and the nursing profession: "This is one industry where it seems the integration of robots will lead to collaboration, not replacement."

chacha82, ADN, BSN · May 8, 2018

I disagree with the perspective that these advancements are so far off to warrant the aforementioned attitude. Drivers have been successfully automated to a degree. While the cognitive expenditure of driving a car isn't the same as providing nursing care, they're both complicated in their own respective ways.
We're really only 15-20 years away, if not less, from a computerized clinician capable of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment that will be monitored by a human counterpart. We might not be able to see the dress in its finished form, but we know kind of fabric will be used and who is going to piece it together.

Pffft facilities won't pay for an extra nurse much less a bot that will surely cost a pretty penny. Didn't the Google car run someone over?

There will always be vacancies on the night shift on floors like Ortho/Renal.