IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/zna/indecs/v23y2025i2p110-117.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Automation Potential in the Workflow of a Scrub Nurse

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Schmid

    (University of Stuttgart, Institute for Engineering Design and Industrial Design, Research and Teaching Department, Industrial Design Engineering, Stuttgart, Germany)

  • Max B. Schäfer

    (University of Stuttgart, Institute of Medical Device Technology, Stuttgart, Germany)

  • Nina M. Stadel

    (University of Stuttgart, Institute for Engineering Design and Industrial Design, Research and Teaching Department, Industrial Design Engineering, Stuttgart, Germany)

  • Peter P. Pott

    (University of Stuttgart, Institute of Medical Device Technology, Stuttgart, Germany)

  • Thomas Maier

    (University of Stuttgart, Institute for Engineering Design and Industrial Design, Research and Teaching Department, Industrial Design Engineering, Stuttgart, Germany)

Abstract

One of the heavily burdened actors in the operating theatre is the scrub nurse who is responsible for the organized and orderly workflow in the operating theatre. One of the main tasks of the scrub nurse is to perform quick and appropriate instrumentation because fast and proactive instrumentation is crucial for the success of the operation. The actual deficiency of specialist staff in the healthcare sector is motivating the automation of repetitive tasks and simple work steps in order to relieve staff in the future and free up capacity for complex and important activities. A robotic assistance system appears to be a suitable solution for many of these challenges. The vision is to develop advanced assistance systems for the handling of instruments in future surgical procedures. In this work, surgery of the carpal tunnel was chosen as example task. The focus lied on the type and scope of the individual working steps. The analysis was carried out by video analyses and by observing corresponding surgical procedures. Based on the results of the analysis, potentials for improving the workflow were derived and requirements for a robotic assistance system were defined.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Schmid & Max B. Schäfer & Nina M. Stadel & Peter P. Pott & Thomas Maier, 2025. "Automation Potential in the Workflow of a Scrub Nurse," Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems - scientific journal, Croatian Interdisciplinary Society Provider Homepage: http://indecs.eu, vol. 23(2), pages 110-117.
    • Handle: RePEc:zna:indecs:v:23:y:2025:i:2:p:110-117
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.indecs.eu/2025/indecs2025-pp110-117.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    workflow; human-machine interaction; ergonomics; robotic assistance system; scrub nurse;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J81 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Working Conditions

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zna:indecs:v:23:y:2025:i:2:p:110-117. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Josip Stepanic (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.