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Background:Technology has the potential to prevent patient falls in healthcare settings and to reduce work-related injuries among healthcare providers. However, the usefulness and acceptability of each technology requires careful evaluation. Framed by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and using the Adaptive Robotic Nursing Assistant (ARNA) to assist with patient ambulation, the present study examined the perceived usefulness of robots in patients’ fall prevention with implications for preventing associated work-related injuries among healthcare providers. Methods:Employing an experimental design, subjects were undergraduate nursing students ( N = 38) and one external subject (not a nursing student) who played the role of the patient. Procedures included subjects ambulating a simulated patient in three ways: (a) following the practice of a nurse assisting a patient to walk with the patient wearing a gait belt; (b) an ARNA-assisted process with the gait belt attached to ARNA; (c) an ARNA-assisted process with a subject walking a patient wearing a harness that is attached to ARNA. Block randomization was used with the following experimental scenarios: Gait Belt (human with a gait belt), “ARNA + Gait Belt” (a robot with a gait belt), and “ARNA + Harness” (a robot with a harness). Descriptive statistics and a multiple regression model were used to analyze the data and compare the outcome described as the Perceived Usefulness (PU) of a robot for patient walking versus a human “nurse assistant” without a robot. The independent variables included the experimental conditions of “Gait Belt,” “ARNA + Gait Belt,” and “ARNA + Harness,” the subject’s age, race, and previous videogame playing experience. Findings:Results indicated that PU was significantly higher in the Gait Belt + ARNA and Harness + ARNA conditions than in the Gait Belt condition ( p-value <.01 for both variables). In examining potential influencing factors, the effects of race (White, African American, and Asian), age, and previous video-playing experience were not statistically significant ( p-value >.05). Discussion:Results demonstrated that using robot technology to assist in walking patients was perceived by subjects as more useful in preventing falls than the gait belt. Patient fall prevention also has implications for preventing associated work-related injuries among healthcare providers. Implications:Understanding the effects of a subject’s perceptions can guide further development of assistive robots in patient care. Robotic engineers and interdisciplinary teams can design robots to accommodate worker characteristics and individual differences to improve worker safety and reduce work injuries.
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ARNA, a Service robot for Nursing Assistance: System Overview and User Acceptability
Using robots capable of collaboration with humans to complete physical tasks in unstructured spaces is a rapidly growing approach to work. Particular examples where increased levels of automation can increase productivity include robots used as nursing assistants. In this paper, we present a mobile manipulator designed to serve as an assistant to nurses in patient walking and patient sitting tasks in hospital environments. The Adaptive Robotic Nursing Assistant (ARNA) robot consists of an omnidirectional base with an instrumented handlebar, and a 7-DOF robotic arm. We describe its components and the novelties in its mechanisms and instrumentation. Experiments with human subjects that gauge the usability and ease of use of the ARNA robot in a medical environment indicate that the robot will get significant actual usage, and are used as a basis for a discussion on how the robot's features facilitate its adaptability for use in other scenarios and environment.
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- PAR ID:
- 10284608
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- IEEE CASE 2020
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1109/CASE48305.2020.9216845
