Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40038679›Full record

ArticleBMC nursing2025

Utilisation of robots in nursing practice: an umbrella review.

Aminat Adeyemo, Alice Coffey, Liz Kingston

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC nursing, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Hospital-Based Robotic Applications in Nursing Practice: A Scoping Review.Journal of nursing scholarship : an official publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing · 2026
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Observational
  8. Article
  9. Review
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  11. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Aminat AdeyemoSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, Health Research Institute, Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland. Aminat.Adeyemo@ul.ie.
Alice CoffeySchool of Nursing and Midwifery, Centre for Implementation Research, Health Research Institute, Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
Liz KingstonSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, Centre for Implementation Research, Health Research Institute, Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe provision of nursing care across the globe is confronted with a range of challenges, including the surge in the older persons population which amplifies the reliance on nursing services and exacerbates the shortage of nurses worldwide. A possible solution could be the broader implementation of robotics in nursing practice. Therefore, this umbrella review aimed to assess and synthesise systematically reviewed evidence on the utilisation of robots in nursing practice.

methodsAn extensive search of nine relevant databases was conducted for research syntheses. We included reviews that reported the experiences of nurses, perceived benefits and challenges of using robots in nursing practice in all care settings and published between the years 2012 and 2022. A supplementary search was conducted in October 2024 using the same criteria. Quality appraisal, data extraction and syntheses were carried out according to Joanna Brigg's Institute's guidelines for undertaking umbrella reviews. The protocol of this umbrella review was registered on PROSPERO prior to the commencement of the review (Registration ID CRD42022361835).

resultsThirteen reviews (representing 558 studies) were included following the quality appraisal. The evidence was summarised in narrative form with supporting quotes from the reviews. The findings were grouped into categories, which were further categorised into three main synthesised findings: 'Documented experiences of nurses in using robots', 'perceived benefits of using robots' and 'perceived challenges of using robots'. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first umbrella review that synthesised evidence on the experiences and perceptions of nurses regarding the use of robots. This umbrella review has limitations as it is not the primary source of evidence, relying on the quality of the included reviews and studies.

conclusionsEvidence shows that there is a perception that robots can support nurses in their work. However, there is not enough experiential evidence from nurses who work with robots in practice to support this. There are also perceived challenges that are of concern to nurses, particularly in relation to liability, ethical dilemmas and patient safety. The authors have no competing interests to declare in the conduct of this review.

Indexed as

Nursing practiceRoboticsRobotsUmbrella reviewUtilisation

Identifiers

PMID40038679
PMCPMC11881500

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.