Medical Robotics: The Impact on Perioperative Nursing Practice
Medical Robotics: The Impact on Perioperative Nursing Practice
Robotic technology and the increased use of minimally invasive surgery approaches is altering the environment in which operating room personnel work and affecting how nurses must care for patients. An understanding of the history of robotics, current applications of the technology, and perioperative nursing responsibilities is needed to assure quality patient care in the wake of continued advances in technology.
Medical robotics is revolutionizing medical care both inside and outside operating rooms. The field of surgery has not seen such innovation since the first laparoscopic cholecystectomy procedure was performed in 1985 (Reynolds, 2001). The market for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) procedures has been driven steadily higher by technological advances that have enabled physicians to provide surgical patients with numerous benefits including improved postoperative comfort and decreased pain, better cosmesis and quality of life, faster recovery, decreased hospital stay, quicker return to activities of daily living, fewer complications, and reduced cost (Hanly et al., 2004; Lanfranco, Castellanos, Desai, & Meyers, 2004; Mack, 2001).
Medical robotics is used to enhance the performance of physicians during minimally invasive procedures (Taylor, Lavallee, Burdea, & Mosges, 1996). The number of procedures performed each year with robotic assistance is growing, as well as the number of surgical specialties using robotics (Chandra & Frank, 2003).
The nursing care that patients require has been affected by procedures being performed with a minimally invasive approach. For example, patient education strategies have been revised to do more teaching pre-operatively, since patients are no longer hospitalized for 3 to 7 days postoperatively. Likewise, the creation of freestanding ambulatory surgical centers has helped shift the focus of nursing activities from inpatient to outpatient care. MIS has also impacted the nursing role by increasing the amount and complexity of technology support the operating room nurse must provide for these cases. Thus, it is important that nurses seek opportunities to educate themselves about this technology, assess its impact, and determine how to best care for patients in the future. This article contains a brief history of medical robotics, some background on reasons for robotic technology use, and the perioperative aspects of caring for patients undergoing robotically assisted surgery.
Robotic technology and the increased use of minimally invasive surgery approaches is altering the environment in which operating room personnel work and affecting how nurses must care for patients. An understanding of the history of robotics, current applications of the technology, and perioperative nursing responsibilities is needed to assure quality patient care in the wake of continued advances in technology.
Medical robotics is revolutionizing medical care both inside and outside operating rooms. The field of surgery has not seen such innovation since the first laparoscopic cholecystectomy procedure was performed in 1985 (Reynolds, 2001). The market for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) procedures has been driven steadily higher by technological advances that have enabled physicians to provide surgical patients with numerous benefits including improved postoperative comfort and decreased pain, better cosmesis and quality of life, faster recovery, decreased hospital stay, quicker return to activities of daily living, fewer complications, and reduced cost (Hanly et al., 2004; Lanfranco, Castellanos, Desai, & Meyers, 2004; Mack, 2001).
Medical robotics is used to enhance the performance of physicians during minimally invasive procedures (Taylor, Lavallee, Burdea, & Mosges, 1996). The number of procedures performed each year with robotic assistance is growing, as well as the number of surgical specialties using robotics (Chandra & Frank, 2003).
The nursing care that patients require has been affected by procedures being performed with a minimally invasive approach. For example, patient education strategies have been revised to do more teaching pre-operatively, since patients are no longer hospitalized for 3 to 7 days postoperatively. Likewise, the creation of freestanding ambulatory surgical centers has helped shift the focus of nursing activities from inpatient to outpatient care. MIS has also impacted the nursing role by increasing the amount and complexity of technology support the operating room nurse must provide for these cases. Thus, it is important that nurses seek opportunities to educate themselves about this technology, assess its impact, and determine how to best care for patients in the future. This article contains a brief history of medical robotics, some background on reasons for robotic technology use, and the perioperative aspects of caring for patients undergoing robotically assisted surgery.
