Robots as intelligent assistants to face COVID-19 pandemic

Need for Information and Communication Technology during COVID-19: An Exploratory Study Using Nurses' Activity Diaries

OBJECTIVES

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to high levels of burnout among nurses. Information and communication technology (ICT) may offer a solution to prevent a potential collapse in healthcare. The aim of this study was to identify areas where ICT could provide support, by analyzing the work of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

This retrospective exploratory descriptive study analyzed qualitative data from the activity diaries of seven nurses working in COVID-19 wards or intensive care units.

RESULTS

The nursing work process during COVID-19 involved "added tasks," "changed tasks," and "reduced tasks" compared to the pre-COVID-19 situation. Nurses reported difficulties in communicating with other healthcare professionals both inside and outside the isolation room, as well as with patients. The use of various ICT solutions, such as real-time video-conferencing systems or mobile robots, could enhance patient monitoring in the isolation room and improve the quality and efficiency of communication.

CONCLUSIONS

The changes in work tasks not only led to nurse exhaustion but also negatively impacted the quality of care. ICT solutions should be explored to minimize the time spent in the isolation room, thereby reducing the risk of infection spread. This could also enhance communication among patients, family caregivers, and healthcare professionals.

Care Robotics: An Assessment of Professional Perception in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 crisis accelerated the adoption of technologies. Technological advancement is also expected in robotics applied to any sector, including in healthcare. The aim is to assess the professional perception of care robotics facing COVID-19. This study aimed to (1) select a tool for assessing different aspects of healthcare, (2) analyse the professional perception about the development, usefulness and helpfulness of technologies and robotics in the field of healthcare and (3) evaluate the correlation between the perceived helpfulness of care robotics and the selected tool. We implement five validated clinical tests which integrate 80 items about a person and their clinical situation. From the sample of 46 professionals, 95.65% affirmed that technology was moderately to completely useful for professional performance in the context of the pandemic, lowering to 67.39% when asked only about robotics; 93.48% stated that the inclusion of robotics in at least one health area affected by COVID-19 would have helped them. Finally, the variables extracted from clinical tests corresponded to the most relevant health areas as identified by the professionals. This research shows the potential of care robotics oriented towards healthcare from a care paradigm.

Evaluation Study on the Use of Non-Contact Prevention and Protection Products in the Context of COVID-19: A Comprehensive Evaluation Method from AHP and Entropy Weight Method

In the post-epidemic era, there is an endless supply of epidemic prevention products that cover a wide range of public areas. The introduction of such products has eased the tense pattern of virus proliferation in the context of the epidemic, and effectively demonstrated the initiatives implemented by the Chinese people in response to the outbreak. This paper therefore begins with the study of contactless epidemic prevention products, which appear in a form that meets the needs of contemporary society and offers a new mode of living to it. It enriches the measures for epidemic prevention and control. By obtaining satisfaction ratings from the user community, the performance of such products can be understood in time to provide a substantial basis for the subsequent upgrading and optimization or transformation of such products. This study uses the KJ method and questionnaires to construct an index system for contactless epidemic prevention products, grasp users' needs for epidemic prevention products in real time, classify and identify such products, and select such products as epidemic prevention smart security gates, medical delivery robots, infrared handheld thermometers, thermographic body temperature screening, contactless inductive lift buttons, and contactless medical vending machines. The questionnaire was designed with four dimensions: safety, intelligence, aesthetics and economy. A sample size of 262 was collected through the distribution of questionnaires. We used AHP and entropy weighting methods for the comprehensive evaluation; AHP basically tells us how satisfied most users are with this type of product. The use of the entropy weighting method can achieve objectivity in the weighting process. Combining the two approaches helps to improve the scientific nature of the weighting of the evaluation indexes for contactless and epidemic-proof products. It is clear from the AHP analysis that, firstly, there are differences in the perceptions of the performance of this type of product between different age groups. Secondly, the user group rated the perceived performance of the product presented as high (Bn>0.200), which users can subjectively and directly perceive. Next, the perceived future sustainable economic development of this product category is low (Bn≤0.200), and users place low importance on its economic aspects as an objective additional condition. The entropy method of analysis shows that, under reasonable government control of the market for intelligent products, the safety, intelligence and aesthetic effects of these products are significant (Cm≤0.100); further, the economic presentation of these products has yet to be optimized and upgraded (Cm>0.100).

Critical role of information and communication technology in nursing during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study

AIM

To examine the need for information and communication technology (ICT)-based nursing care in improving patient management during the pandemic.

BACKGROUND

Maintaining traditional approaches to nursing in the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic predisposes health care systems to a risk of diminished quality of care. Using ICT (real-time videoconferencing, mobile robots and artificial intelligence) could reduce burnout and infection risks by minimizing face-to-face contact.

METHOD

Qualitative descriptive design with content analysis.

RESULTS

Overall, 24 participants (14 nurses, six medical/nursing informatics experts and four technology experts) were interviewed. Three main themes were extracted: emerging challenges for nurses due to COVID-19, impact of new technology on patient and nurse experiences and concerns with implementation of technology.

CONCLUSION

A significant portion of nurses' work was unrelated to professional nursing, causing burnout. ICT could help reduce nurses' burden by facilitating environmental management and non-contact communication and providing emotional support for patients.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

Establishing an ICT-based nursing care system that considers the physical environment and communication infrastructure of health care institutions, user's digital health literacy and user safety to effectively manage non-nursing care-related activities and undertake tasks that can be delegated may improve the quality of care for quarantined patients and reduce risk of cross-infection.

COVID-19 and public support for autonomous technologies—Did the pandemic catalyze a world of robots?

By introducing a novel risk to human interaction, COVID-19 may have galvanized interest in uses of artificial intelligence (AI). But was the pandemic a large enough catalyst to change public attitudes about the costs and benefits of autonomous systems whose operations increasingly rely on AI? To answer this question, we use a preregistered research design that exploits variation across the 2018 and 2020 waves of the CCES/CES, a nationally representative survey of adults in the United States. We compare support for autonomous cars, autonomous surgeries, weapons, and cyber defense pre- and post-the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that, despite the incentives created by COVID-19, the pandemic did not increase support for most of these technologies, except in the case of autonomous surgery among those who know someone who died of COVID-19. The results hold even when controlling for a variety of relevant political and demographic factors. The pandemic did little to push potential autonomous vehicle users to support adoption. Further, American concerns about autonomous weapons, including cyber defense, remain sticky and perhaps exacerbated over the last two years. These findings suggest that the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and the adoption of many of these systems is far more nuanced and complex than headlines may suggest.