Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in Nursing: Ethics of Caring as a Guide to Dividing Tasks Between AI and Humans

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) and AI care robots are rapidly changing the healthcare landscape in part because of the growing physical, intellectual and emotional demands of nursing as well as technological advances. As technology becomes more advanced, efficient, and economical, opportunities and pressure to introduce AI into nursing care will only increase. Under these conditions, there is an urgent need to consider principles according to which interventions ought to be provided by a human or AI devices. Nurses have traditionally been regarded as clinicians that deliver compassionate, safe, and empathetic health care (Brenan, 2018). Caring is a fundamental characteristic, expectation, and moral obligation of the nursing and caregiving professions and, thus once the caregiver-patient relationship has been created, there exists a moral obligation and to care for patients (American Nurses Association, 2015). Along with caring, nurses are expected to undertake ever-expanding duties and complex tasks. Nurses are responsible for collecting data, determining diagnoses, making nursing care plans, executing care

From Amazon.com to Amazon.love: How Alexa is redefining companionship and interdependence for people with special needs

“…While IPAs do not yet have the physical component provided by human caregivers or even robots, Alexa has the ability to make people with special needs feel that the AI is both “for” and “with” them. Indeed, human caregivers have always been recognized for providing “an interpersonal and intersubjective” support mechanism not only based on functional help related to a “question” and “answer” type of relationship (Fredriksson, 1999), but also on fostering “a deep connection to acknowledge suffering and help” (Stokes & Palmer, 2020), which Amazon is trying to replicate with its Alexa devices. Furthermore, the AI agent, hereby Alexa, seems to nurture a sense of trust between its users and the device.…”

Robotics: Considerations for Practice

“…Nursing theories and ethos provide essential fundamental elements to effectively operationalize robotic technologies. Stokes and Palmer (2020) provided some initial thoughts on translating a nursing ethos and theories into practice. These authors focus on nursing caring and tasks.…”

“…These authors focus on nursing caring and tasks. They defined nursing’s caring as an unreplaceable core value that requires a human caregiver to be involved with direct and fundamental care (Stokes & Palmer, 2020). Direct care consists of human touch and a presence that focuses on safety, activities of daily living, communication, and education.…”

“…Indirect and nonfundamental tasks are considered nonprimary and include activities such as data collection, documentation, review of medications, and evaluating patient information. These indirect/nonfundamental activities can be paired with AI and robotic technologies as long as processes informed by these technologies do not diminish touch, presence, caring conversations, and individually expressed diversity and do not provide a substitute for staffing solutions (Stokes & Palmer, 2020). The authors describe these as recommendations as opposed to mandates, with the caveat that resources and patient preferences may override recommendations.…”

“…The Stokes and Palmer (2020) suggestions are straightforward and effectively arranged in a categorical binary direct/fundamental caregiving way. There is a beauty with this straightforwardness; however, a concern arises with potential oversimplifying of nursing’s disciplinary contributions.…”