Robot-assisted mobilisation in the intensive care unit - does it offer relief to mobilising specialists? A qualitative longitudinal study at three data collection points at a German university hospital

Abstract Intensive-care patients are often forced into extended immobility, bringing with it a high risk of long-term damage. Reasons for this include the shortage of specialist staff in healthcare, lack of aids and the high safety risk involved in transferring patients to a therapy device. However, early mobilisation can positively affect patient outcome and counteract complications. Robotic systems may also help relieve mobilising staff and make mobilisation more feasible. A qualitative longitudinal study was performed to investigate how mobilising specialists perceive the use of a robotic system for mobilisation and which stress and relief factors occur in this context. A total of 29 guided interviews were conducted at three data collection points for this. The evaluation was performed using qualitative content analysis. Results show that mobilisation using the robotic VEMOTION® system was perceived as less physically stressful or physically relieving when compared to conventional mobilisation. The psychological stress was higher than the psychological stress during conventional mobilisation (T1), in particular in the non-routine users (T2) of robot-assisted mobilisation. The greatest challenges were the high time requirements for preparation as well as the integration of mobilisation into the daily routine. The lack of routine and the associated uncertainty in dealing with the system were named as a major problem. These aspects meant that some users who hadn`t yet been able to develop a routine (T2) with the device didn`t accept the system and didn`t use it as a result. Users with routine (T3) described robot-assisted mobilisation as causing little psychological stress. Trial registration:clinicaltrials.org TRN: NCT05071248, Date: 2021/10/21 URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05071248