Views of nurses and other health and social care workers on the use of assistive humanoid and animal-like robots in health and social care: a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Robots are introduced in many health and social care settings.

OBJECTIVES: To provide an overview of the existing evidence related to the views of nurses and other health and social care workers about the use of assistive humanoid and animal-like robots.

METHODS: Using the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines we searched MEDLINE, PUBMED, CINHAL, EMBASE, PsycInfo, Web of Science, and IEEE Xplore digital library. Nineteen (19) articles met the criteria for inclusion.

RESULTS: Health care workers reported mixed views regarding the use of robots. They considered an array of tasks that robots could perform; they addressed the issue of patient safety and raised concerns about privacy.

CONCLUSIONS: A limited number of studies have explored the views of health care workers about the use of robots. Considering the fast pace with which technology is advancing in the care field, it is critical to conduct more research in this area. Impact Statement: Robots will increasingly have a role to play in nursing, health and social care. The potential impact will be challenging for the healthcare workforce. It is therefore important for nurses and other health and social care workers to engage in discussion regarding the contribution of robots and their impact not only on nursing care but also on future roles of health and social care workers.