Virginia, Europe Brief News – Since February, Moxi, a nearly 6-foot-tall medical robot, has been accompanying the Mary Washington Hospital nurses in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Moxi carries medicine, supplies, test results, and personal things from floor to floor. Nurses say it’s been a pleasant reprieve after two years of fighting Covid-19 and accompanying stress.
As a former ICU and ER nurse, Abigail Hamilton, who now supervises nursing staff support programs at the hospital, explains, “There are two kinds of burnout: ‘we’re short this weekend’ fatigue and then there’s pandemic burnout, which our care teams are facing right now.”
Alos Read: 6 Best Mobile Game Controllers For You
Medical Robots to Replace Nurses
Moxi is one of many specialized delivery robots created recently to relieve medical employees. A lack of employment balance was a concern for almost half of US nurses before the epidemic. The psychological strain of witnessing patients die and coworkers afflicted has exacerbated sentiments of exhaustion. Studies show that burnout may have long-term effects on nurses, including cognitive impairment and sleeplessness years after the initial weariness. A National Nurses United poll found that about two-thirds of US nurses had pondered quitting their jobs to make matters worse.
The shortfall is driving up permanent and travel nurse rates in specific locations. Nurses in Finland are striking for better wages. But it’s also cleared the path for additional medical robots.
Also Read: Unique Ways To Spice Up Your Morning Coffee Routine
Moxi has spent the epidemic rolling through the corridors of some of the country’s major robots in hospitals that are delivering items like smartphones and teddy bears to patients. They have been a great help in emergency departments when the Covid-19 policy kept family members away.
Moxi – A majestic Invention in the Medical World
Moxi was developed by Vivian Chu, a former Google X researcher, and Andrea Thomaz, an associate professor at the University of Texas in Austin. Chu mentored Thomaz at Georgia Tech’s Socially Intelligent Machines Lab. Months after the pandemic outbreak, the first commercial Moxi deployment took place. About 15 Moxi Medical robots are currently in US hospitals, with 60 more coming later this year.
“Any robots in hospital that wanted to engage with us in 2018 had a specific project for the CFO or a futuristic hospital project,” says Diligent Robotics CEO Andrea Thomaz. “We’ve seen that practically every robotics in healthcare system is looking about robots and automation over the past two years.”
Moxi Trials in US Trials
However, according to a study of nurses who worked with Moxi-like delivery robots in Cyprus, they have a long way to go before they can replace people. Moxi still needs essential support. Like asking a person to push an elevator button for a specified level.
An American Nurses Association–sponsored case study evaluated Moxi trials in hospitals in Dallas, Houston, and Galveston, Texas. Because robots cannot read expiry dates, researchers warn that using outdated bandages increases the danger of infection.
The majority of the 21 nurses questioned stated Moxi offered them more time to chat with released patients. Nurses noted that Moxi had problems navigating through crowded corridors in the early rush or anticipating demands by accessing EHRs. “The robot’s eyes recording them,” remarked another. They determined that Moxi cannot provide professional nursing care and is better suited to low-risk, repetitive chores that save nurses time.
