Use of robots in nursing homes helps retain staff and improve quality of care

Faced with high staff turnover and an aging population, nursing homes are increasingly turning to robots to perform a variety of care management tasks, but until now few researchers have examined how these technologies affect nursing home staffing and quality of care.

A new study from the University of Notre Dame’s Department of Employment Perspectives shows that the use of robots is associated with increased employment and retention of staff, increased productivity and improved quality of care. The study, published in the journal Labor Economics, has important implications for the employment and long-term care industry.

The researchers relied on surveys conducted in Japanese nursing homes between 2020 and 2022.

The study focused on Japan because it is a super-aging society, which is a good example of what may happen in the future in other countries: a shrinking population, a growing fraction of the elderly, and a shrinking fraction of working-age people.

We must be prepared for this new reality.

Impact of the use of robots on the workforce

With more elderly people needing care in the future, the targeted use of robots could benefit both staff and patients, researchers said. The study analyzed three types of robots that are increasingly being used in nursing homes:

• Robots designed to move, which nurses use to lift, move and turn patients in beds and around the room.
• Robots designed for mobility, which patients use to move around and bathe.
• Robots designed for monitoring and communication, equipped with technologies such as computer vision and bed sensors that can track patient data such as their movements, condition, and relay it to health care providers.

Researchers have found that introducing robots into the care process complements the work of staff, reducing the number of layoffs. This is important because staff turnover is a pretty big problem in nursing homes.

Working in nursing homes is hard work with low pay. Among other things, workers tend to experience significant physical pain, especially in their knees and backs. Therefore, the use of robots was associated with staff retention.

Interestingly, although the use of robots was associated with overall job growth, this trend seemed to help some workers more than others: there was an increase in demand for less experienced part-time employees and a decrease in demand for more experienced workers.

Improving patient care

According to the study, patients in facilities that used robots only benefited. Nursing homes that the research team studied reported a decrease in the use of patient restraints and a decrease in bedsores or ulcers, which nursing home patients commonly suffer from due to lack of mobility. By eliminating the physical strain associated with certain tasks, robots can make room for care workers to focus on tasks more suitable for humans.

Robots can increase productivity by shifting care workers’ attention to tasks that require human touch, empathy and skill.

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Published: 14.01.2025

Updated: 14.01.2025

Medical author, Medical editor:

Stepan Yuk

Medical expert:

PhD. Olexandr Voznyak