Record STMT-WA7F601Voluntary

Study protocol: a survey exploring patients’ and healthcare professionals’ expectations, attitudes and ethical acceptability regarding the integration of socially assistive humanoid robots in nursing

Report Institutional policySouthern Europe · SIadopted

This document outlines a research study protocol designed to explore patients' and healthcare professionals' expectations, attitudes, and the ethical acceptability of integrating socially assistive humanoid robots into nursing care at a regional clinical centre in Slovenia. The study utilizes a cross-sectional survey methodology incorporating previously validated questionnaires, including the Technology-Specific Expectation Scale, the Ethical Acceptability Scale, and the Negative Attitudes towards Robots Scale. The findings aim to inform implementation strategies and address potential misconceptions or fears regarding robotics in hospital workflows.

Summary and content fields are drawn from the document text and are pending editorial review.

Who issued it

BMJ Publishing GroupIndustry

Publisher

Legal forceVoluntary

Under whose authorityInstitutional policy

Judged fromfull text

Who it governs

Researchers and academicsGeneral publicProfessional group

Researchers, healthcare professionals, and academics interested in the sociological, ethical, and practical integration of robotics in healthcare environments.

Sectors

Healthcare · nursing care and hospital workflowResearch and science · clinical and survey research

What the document contains

What's covered

The protocol covers the study design, research questions, hypotheses, participant inclusion and exclusion criteria, and statistical analysis methods for evaluating the integration of socially assistive humanoid robots in hospital nursing.

What's missing

The document does not provide binding regulatory requirements, legal standards, or technical specifications for AI systems.

Key takeaways

The study investigates patient and healthcare professional perspectives on socially assistive humanoid robots in hospital nursing care.
Three validated questionnaires—TSES, EAS, and NARS—are utilized to measure expectations, ethical acceptability, and negative attitudes.
The planned sample size comprises approximately 500 healthcare professionals and 500 inpatients from a Slovenian clinical centre.
Demographic variables such as age, gender, education level, and occupation are analyzed for their relationship with technology acceptance.
Ethical approval was granted by the Medical Ethics Commission of the University Medical Center Maribor.

Outline

· Introduction
· Methods/design
· Ethics and dissemination
· Introduction
· Objectives and hypotheses
· Methods
· Patient and public involvement
· Outcomes
· Data analysis and statistics

Issued20 March 2022

Length6,029 words · 7 pages

FormatNot recorded

Scopenational

How it scores

Pending review

Each score is backed by a quote verified against the document text. Editorial review has not yet confirmed them.

Accountability

2/5

Clear responsibility for AI outcomes

The more recognised ones include technical barriers and technological limitations, fairness and sustainability, accountability, acceptance, and negative preconceptions.

INTRODUCTION

screening score · 2026-10-24

Human Oversight

0/5

Humans remain in control of consequential decisions

screening score · 2026-10-24

Transparency

0/5

Openness about how AI systems work and are used

screening score · 2026-10-24

Enforcement

0/5

Consequences and compliance mechanisms with real force

screening score · 2026-10-24

Topics

healthcare_robotics nursing_care ethical_acceptability patient_attitudes artificial_intelligence_in_medicine