Assessing Visitor Expectations of AI Nursing Robots in Hospital Settings: Cross-Sectional Study Using the Kano Model.
Aimei Kang, XiuLi Wu
PMID 39602413WHAT IT FOUND
457 hospital visitors prioritized AI nursing robots for disease monitoring, companion care, logistics, and education, while rating infection and excretion care less important. 68.5% accepted robots for nursing services, but privacy and safety concerns were raised.
Key findings
01Visitors classified disease monitoring, companion care, logistics transfer, and consultation/education as must-have functions, and infection, information, excretion, and sanitary management as indifferent.
0268.5% of visitors expressed strong interest and willingness to explore clinical applications of AI nursing robots, and 50.1% reported having used one.
03Priorities differed by visit reason: hospitalization visitors valued infection management, consultation/education, and disease monitoring; outpatient visitors valued logistics transfer, infection management, information management, and consultation/education; companionship-care visitors valued drug management, excretion and defecation, logistics transfer, sanitary management, companion care, and consultation/education.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was done at one hospital in Wuhan, so expectations may not apply to other hospitals, regions, or patient groups. It asked visitors to rate imagined robot functions; no AI nursing robot was tested, and no patient, nursing, or safety outcomes were measured. The questionnaire was designed by the researchers, so responses may reflect the wording and the 15 functions they chose. Only three visit reasons were analysed, although real hospital visits may have many different purposes. The age reporting is inconsistent: inclusion criteria were adults aged 18 years and older, but the results state that 10 participants were younger than 18 years.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, related to this work.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these findings as evidence that AI nursing robots improve care. The study only asked visitors which robot functions they preferred and whether they accepted the idea; it did not test robots, patient outcomes, or safety.