Background: According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, nurses will be the largest labor pool in the United States by 2022, and more than 1.1 million nursing positions have to be filled by then in order to avoid a nursing shortage. In addition, the incidence rate of musculoskeletal disorders in nurses is above average in comparison with other occupations. Robot-assisted health care has the potential to alleviate the nursing shortage by automating mundane and routine nursing tasks. Furthermore, robots in health care environments may assist with safe patient mobility and handling and may thereby reduce the likelihood of musculoskeletal disorders. Objective: This pilot study investigates the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness (acceptability) of a customized service robot as determined by nursing students (as proxies for nursing staff in health care environments). This service robot, referred to as the Adaptive Robotic Nurse Assistant (ARNA), was developed to enhance the productivity of nurses through cooperation during physical tasks (eg, patient walking, item fetching, object delivery) as well as nonphysical tasks (eg, patient observation and feedback). This pilot study evaluated the acceptability of ARNA to provide ambulatory assistance to patients. Methods: We conducted a trial with 24 participants to collect data and address the following research question: Is the use of ARNA as an ambulatory assistive device for patients acceptable to nurses? The experiments were conducted in a simulated hospital environment. Nursing students (as proxies for nursing staff) were grouped in dyads, with one participant serving as a nurse and the other acting as a patient. Two questionnaires were developed and administrated to the participants based on the Technology Acceptance Model with respect to the two subscales of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use metrics. In order to evaluate the internal consistency/reliability of the questionnaires, we calculated Cronbach alpha coefficients. Furthermore, statistical analyses were conducted to evaluate the relation of each variable in the questionnaires with the overall perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use metrics. Results: Both Cronbach alpha values were acceptably high (.93 and .82 for perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use questionnaires, respectively), indicating high internal consistency of the questionnaires. The correlation between the variables and the overall perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use metrics was moderate. The average perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use metrics among the participants were 4.13 and 5.42, respectively, out of possible score of 7, indicating a higher-than-average acceptability of this service robot. Conclusions: The results served to identify factors that could affect nurses’ acceptance of ARNA and aspects needing improvement (eg, flexibility, ease of operation, and autonomy level).

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中文翻译：

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在医疗保健环境中使用机器人护理助理的可接受性：实验性试点研究


背景：根据美国劳工统计局的数据，到2022年，护士将成为美国最大的劳动力库，届时必须填补超过110万个护理职位，以避免护理短缺。此外，与其他职业相比，护士肌肉骨骼疾病的发生率高于平均水平。机器人辅助医疗保健有可能通过自动化日常护理任务来缓解护理短缺。此外，医疗保健环境中的机器人可以帮助患者安全移动和处理，从而减少肌肉骨骼疾病的可能性。目的：这项试点研究调查了护生（作为医疗保健环境中护理人员的代理人）对定制服务机器人的感知易用性和感知有用性（可接受性）。这种服务机器人被称为自适应机器人护士助理（ARNA），其开发目的是通过在体力任务（例如，患者行走、取物、物品交付）以及非体力任务（例如，为患者服务）期间的合作来提高护士的工作效率。观察和反馈）。该试点研究评估了 ARNA 为患者提供门诊援助的可接受性。方法：我们对 24 名参与者进行了一项试验，以收集数据并解决以下研究问题：护士可以接受使用 ARNA 作为患者的门诊辅助装置吗？实验是在模拟医院环境中进行的。护理学生（作为护理人员的代理人）被分成两组，其中一名参与者充当护士，另一名参与者充当患者。 根据技术接受模型，针对感知有用性和感知易用性指标的两个分量表，开发并管理了两份调查问卷给参与者。为了评估问卷的内部一致性/信度，我们计算了Cronbach alpha系数。此外，还进行了统计分析，以评估问卷中每个变量与整体感知有用性和感知易用性指标的关系。结果：两个 Cronbach α 值都较高（感知有用性和感知易用性调查问卷分别为 0.93 和 0.82），表明调查问卷具有较高的内部一致性。变量与整体感知有用性和感知易用性指标之间的相关性适中。参与者的平均感知有用性和感知易用性指标分别为 4.13 和 5.42，满分为 7，表明该服务机器人的可接受性高于平均水平。结论：结果有助于确定可能影响护士接受 ARNA 的因素以及需要改进的方面（例如灵活性、操作简便性和自主水平）。


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