Another "health automation" area in which machines are rapidly replacing human labor is the transportation of various goods around a hospital to the nursing stations. It is a thankless and physically demanding job that needs to be taken care of, day-in day-out. Perhaps robots will save our nurses from such physical drudgery and allow them to concentrate on more technical and "higher value added" assignments - despite the ever-present "labor displacement" potential that all machines represent.

Japan is probably one country leading the way in the employment of robots in all kinds of hospital services including an “android” robot meeting the visitors at the greeting area and showing them the way to wherever they want to go around the hospital compound.

There are porter robots in Japanese hospitals which carry food trays as well as mail, paperwork, luggage, lab specimens, bandages, X-rays, blankets and linens.

The initial investment could be considerable for some of these hi-tech workers but they do not eat or drink, and they usually take only a six-hour break per day. They do not go out on vacation. They do not take any sick leave or personal days off. . Neither do they need any promotion or health insurance.

According to the Pittsburgh-based Aethon corporation which makes some of these porter robots, they cost 30% less than a human courier. There is one (named “Chad”) in use at the Lehigh Valley Hospital in Pennsylvania and another one will soon be rolling down the corridors of The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Aeton has 150 porter robots operating in various U.S. hospitals -- 120 robots more than employed back only two years ago. The adoption rate is alarming for the human couriers but sweet music to hi-tech companies like Aeton.

Some of these robots have a TV camera installed on them so that a doctor can “visit” and “examine” a patient by remote control. Thanks to the radio frequency chips that nowadays can be affixed to almost any object, these robots can also go and find left over or lost equipment around the hospital. Given the fact that a 500-bed hospital on the average has 1,500 IV pumps, for example, the savings of such a capability can be considerable in the long run.

Hi-Tech Future and Constant Education

Robots, whether used in delicate surgery or just to carry goods around the hospital, are here to stay. This trend will eventually both present new challenges for some of our nurses as well as prove them with new and exciting venues to ratchet their credentials to new heights of professional excellence. That’s why in our hi-tech future, the education and on-the-job training of our nurses will be more important than in any other period in history.

U. Akinci is the Editor of the monthly “Nurse Recruiter Newsletter” published by http://www.nurse-recruiter.com, the nation's premiere travel nurse staffing agency.

Source: www.a1articles.com