Stakeholders
Technology has been changing at a rapid speed all over the globe and everyone has become accustomed to the benefits that are being provided by technology. Technology has made the lives of people easier and has also helped in many scientific types of research. Technology in today’s time has reached heights which were never imagined before. The technology of robotics has been adopted in the nursing sector in many forms. This is due to many reasons such as shortage of staff and challenges in meeting the technical requirements needed to provide the basic healthcare facilities to people (Free et al. 2013). The use of technology and robotics have been prevalent in surgical functions in many countries. However, there have been developments where robotics have been used in the delivery of several other healthcare facilities. Robotic nurses are a growing phenomenon in several countries because of the challenges that are faced by many healthcare facilities on many technological issues. Robotic nurses are robots that are built in such a way so that they can perform several physical activities like a human nurse and take the right decisions and give emotional support to the individuals under their care (Qureshi, M.O. and Syed 2014). Robotic nurses are already being used by several hospitals in current times and they also act as a communication channel for the doctors who are present in another destination. This report will conduct a thorough analysis of the ethical, social and legal opportunities that are associated with the technology of robot nurses to be presented to the investors. The report will first of all specify the stakeholders of the technology and describe the different measures for property protection of the company. The study will further divulge into the opportunities/benefits and risks/drawbacks of the technology based on which the reasons for the investment in this technology would be derived.
Stakeholders are the people who have shown an interest in the usage of this technology in the healthcare sector. There are several types of stakeholders such as direct users of robots for providing wellness in the daily activities, healthcare professionals who will use robots to provide care to individuals (clinicians), care givers, researchers and technologists, insurers, policy makers, health administrators and advocacy groups (Mettler, Sprenger and Winter 2017). All of the above stakeholders can be segregated into three main groups which are the primary beneficiaries, secondary beneficiaries and tertiary beneficiaries (Young and Nesbitt 2017). The primary beneficiaries are the people who are going to use the robots for daily use such as clinicians, direct robot users and care givers (Riek 2017). The secondary beneficiaries are the people who are somewhat involved in the usage of robotics in the healthcare sector but are not directly involved in using the same technology such as environmental service workers, robot makers and health administrators (Alaiad and Zhou 2014). The tertiary beneficiaries are the people who have an interest in the technology and the way that robotics are used in the healthcare sector but will not be using this technology themselves such as advocacy groups, policy makers and insurers (Pian et al. 2013). These are the primary stakeholders of the robotic technology that is being used in the healthcare sectors. However, there might be other stakeholders as well and the decisions and opinions of every stakeholder are important for the success of a new and advanced technology (Bakshi, Frey and Osborne 2015). All of the above stakeholders would potentially benefit from the development of this technology since all the three groups of beneficiaries have their own interests at hand regarding the establishment of robotics technology in the healthcare sector.
Intellectual property protection of the company
Intellectual property is referred to as the creation which is done with the mind of an individual such as images, names, technologies and others. There are two divisions of intellectual property which are industrial property and copyright. Industrial property is the industrial designs, inventions, geographical indications and trademarks. Copyright are the artistic works, literary works, music, architecture design and films. Any kind of artistic performance or recordings come under copyright. Intellectual property rights are rights of the creator or the owner of the copyrighted, patents or trademark works to reap benefits from their own work or invest in the creation (DAILY, KIEFF and WILMARTH 2014). The intellectual property rights are outlined in the Universal declaration of Human Rights in Article 27. These rights have been established by the government to provide protection to the unique creations of the individual through their own minds of any nature. The people who can benefit from these creations are only the owner which is why these rights are given to the owners to stop the theft of these productions. It is very important for the owner of a company or production to protect their property through these rights. The intellectual property right does not apply to any physical objects through which the creation have been presented but only to the idea or the intellectual creation (May 2015). The actual importance of the intellectual property right was first determined in the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property in the year 1883 and later in the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works in the year 1886, both of which were being administered under the World Intellectual Property Organisation or the WIPO (Grimm and Anderl 2013). Therefore, the intellectual property rights are put to use for those properties which are inventions or creations made by individuals which have not been done before and are unique in nature.
There are many advantages and disadvantages to intellectual property rights that should be understood by the owner of the company before venturing into any creation. As seen earlier, intellectual property protects the inventions of a company which is very important for maintaining the uniqueness and competitive edge of the company. Intellectual property of both of automatic nature and some also have to be formally applied before the protection can be enabled. The advantages of intellectual property are as follows. Firstly, there is no fee that is given by the owner to change the invention or enhance it, and especially if it has not been formally protected by any intellectual property right. However, the owner should always protect his creation formally once the invention has been completely developed. Secondly, the intellectual protection right can give a competitive edge to the company over the other players in the market (Delgado, Kyle and McGahan 2013). This is because the other players or organisations who are conducting their operations in the same industry as the company will not be able to copy, sell or manufacture the same product that has been made by the company because of the protection. Thirdly, the intellectual property right helps to enhance the value of the company. This means that the company will be able to generate huge income for the company if they sell their invention or by licensing agreements. If the invention is protected by the intellectual property protection then it will have more value than if it is not protected. Fourthly, intellectual protection will help to market the product and service which would include the logo or design of the product. This is useful for attracting customers towards the product and differentiate the company from the other organisations in the market. Fifthly, it will become easier to lend money from any financial institutions if the product or service is intellectually protected since the credibility is increased due to the protection. Sixthly, the intellectual protection will increase the competitive edge of the company which will be beneficial in the exports market and provide several opportunities to expand their sales internationally.
Advantages of intellectual property
The disadvantages of intellectual property are as follows. Firstly, there are several additional costs which are required for the protection of intellectual property since it is a very complex process. There would be several applications that would need to be filled to protect a single product. Additionally, if a lawyer is hired by the company to do the whole process, there would be extra costs which have to be paid by the company for the legal services given by the lawyer. Secondly, the quality of the product reduces with the reduction in the intellectual property rights (Griffith, Miller and O’Connell 2014). This is because the incentive to do the work reduces and the time that has to be invested in it since the company realises that the intellectual property rights are not perfect. Thirdly, for products which are in high demand in the market, it is hard for the owner to stop other individuals from copying the product or creation and making a similar one. Therefore, there could be a high level of piracy even though the creation is protected and if the protection is enforced for high demand products then the customer base could reduce.
There are several types of intellectual property protection, however, the two kinds of protection that would be described are patents and trademarks. Patents are exclusive rights that are given to a product or a service which is unique or new in the market or which offers a solution to any technical problem (Caló and Khutoryanskiy 2014). The patent that is provided to the owners is given for a period of 20 years as a protection to their creations. If an invention has a patent then it cannot be used, sold or distributed without the consent of the owner. It is the decision of the patented owner on who should use their creation or not. Trademarks are signs or marks through which a product or service can be identified by any company or individual (Edwards and Steer 2016). Products or services have special trademarks of their own which makes it easier for the consumers to decide if the product or service will be able to meet their needs or not. The protection given by trademarks ensure that the owner who owns the marks have the right to use it to identify several products and services or can allow others to use these trademarks in exchange for a payment.
Robotic nurses have been a major art in the healthcare sectors in current times. Many healthcare facilities are adopting this technology as it makes their work much easier. There are many works where the robotic nurses are out to use. However, there are both negative and positive aspects of every creation and technology. Similarly, robotic nurses have both benefits and drawbacks, especially certain ethical issues which need to be understood before using this technology. The opportunities and benefits of robotic nurses are as follows. Firstly, robotic nurses conduct chores which are done by human nurses if they are programmed to do those works. They can take care of the patients and can stay in the patient’s room permanently whether at their house or at the hospital (Andrade et al. 2014). This would help the patients as the robotic nurses would be able to help the patient whenever they need nurses or in case of any emergency. They also have a more personalized touch towards the patients and talk to them in a human voice so that they do not have to realise that they are dealing with a robot. Other than taking care of the patients the nursing robots can carry out other services such as household chores and laundry services and even greet the patients like a human when they wake up from their sleep (Alimisis 2013). They could also administer the robots during their medical treatments. Secondly, robotic nurses are quicker and cheaper to train than that of human nurses. They are also much cheaper to maintain and easier to repair in case of any issues and refuel. The robotic nurses are able to do numerous tasks repetitively without getting tired, bored or annoyed (Graffigna, Barello and Riva 2013). They can do any work without any show of emotion as is the case of human nurses. Robotic nurses can also do jobs which are deemed dangerous for human nurses such as exposing themselves to dangerous chemicals and hazardous infectious diseases. Thirdly, robotic nurses can store important medical data and information and transcribe them without making much error which becomes a great help for the doctors and nurses in case of emergency cases. They are programmed in such a way that they can help the doctors to diagnose the patients without the help of human nurses and in a much more efficient way. Robotic nurses have a deep understanding of the healthcare since they are fed with the important information, hence, they can also assist any health worker who is not greatly skilled and will not need the help of doctors or any highly skilled professional. Robotic nurses are capable to provide the basic inputs that are required in such basic cases. Fourthly, robotic nurses can act as companions to those people who are chronically ill and cannot leave their needs or for aged people who cannot go out of the home much (Diana and Marescaux 2015). Such people tend to feel lonely since they would not be able to receive visitors at all hours. This is why robotic nurses is a better option since they will always be present to give them company and the patients can talk to them and share their emotions with the robotic nurses. Moreover, the robotic nurses can also help the chronically ill patients and the aged people to stay independent since they would not need to depend on a care giver or for care homes if they are keeping a robotic nurse at their house. The nurse would be able to provide them with all the services in a much more efficient way than the care giver or care homes (Poli et al. 2013). Fifthly, robotic nurses would be a great help to the care receiver and remind them of the time when they have to eat, sleep, take medicine, drink, exercise or meet someone. Every task would be reminded by the robotic nurses of they are programmed by the care receiver in such a way (Cabibihan et al. 2013). They would be able to do this at every odd hour since they are never bored or tired of any work. The robotic nurses would not miss reminding any of these tasks like a human being since it would be imbedded in their technology. Therefore, they will be able to do these tasks more accurately and effectively. Sixthly, robotic nurses would be able to help in an emergency situation of their patients such as diabetes or heart attacks since they will have the necessary data and the information which they can show to the doctor and the nurses during the emergency so that they can take the perfect action. Seventhly, robotic nurses could decrease the burden of the family members and the family. They could do this by taking up the responsibility that is done by the robots that is normally done by the family members. This is where it can be a major advantage for the patients since they do not like to become a burden to their family members (Van der Loos, Reinkensmeyer and Guglielmelli 2016). The robotic nurses take away the burden of the family and give them more time so that the patients can spend more time with their family and this provides a sense of happiness and peace to the patients since they are no longer a reason for distress for their family. Lastly, they fill out the gaps in caring giving that is often missed out by the family and friends of the patients due to various reasons. Even if the family members are devoted to the patient, they can miss out on caring for them since the family members and the friends might be busy with their work and not able to attend to the needs of the patients. This gap is filled by the robotic nurses who take proper care of the patients and does not let them miss their family members and also do not let them suffer because of the absence of family (Weissman and Zinner 2013). These are the following opportunities and benefits that are derived from the assistance of robotic nurses in healthcare facilities and also taking care of patients in their homes without having to take the burden themselves or putting it on their family members.
Disadvantages of intellectual property
Just like robotic nurses have their advantages, they also have their disadvantages which relates various ethical, legal and social issues related to this technology. The risks and drawbacks of using robotic nurses are as follows. Firstly, the most important issue was privacy issues. The robotic nurses had access to all the information and data about the patient which would be needed by them to take care of the patients and to share with the doctors and nurses in case of emergencies (Robinson, MacDonald and Broadbent 2014). Even though this feature is beneficial while taking care of aged patients and patients who are chronically ill this is evading the privacy of the patients since the personal information is not more personal. The lack of proper regulations, protocols and corporate policies might provide a threat to the patients and their private life and to every other individual who is associated with the patients by the robotic nurses. The robotic nurses have the capability to expose this private information if they are not programmed currently or if any fault arises in them. Other people could also take advantage of this information by extracting them from the robots. Secondly, the issue of employment arises with the use of robotic nurses. Robotic nurses provide more efficient and accurate services and are more productive than human nurses. Moreover, they incur fewer costs than human nurses which why they can become a more liked choice than human nurses in the healthcare sector (Worldwide 2013). Almost all other sectors have adopted robots in place of humans which has become an act of concern in almost all countries. This is because as more people are using robots in their organisations, the humans are suffering from unemployment. The using of robots in healthcare sector would mean that the people would miss out on the change of developing their skills to provide medical assistance. Therefore, robotic nurses have become a great danger to the employment of the human nurses and all fundamental medical practitioners since they are able to do the jobs of the human in a much better way. The humans are also not able to develop their skills and are hence, falling behind the skills of the robotic nurses since proper training is not being given to the human nurses because of the high investment that is being demanded in their training (Kristoffersson, Coradeschi and Loutfi 2013). Thirdly, another important risk is dignity issues. This issue is a major issue in healthcare sectors whose main objective is to look after the fact that the patients are kept happy and satisfied and given an environment of peace and belonging so that they can stay healthy. For this to happen it is very important that the patients are exposed to human interaction, since every human is a social being and they need to interact with other human beings for them to survive. The lack of human nurses in the healthcare facilities and them being replaced by the robotic nurses is a huge issue which would harm the dignity and the happiness of the care receivers in the facilities (Tapper et al. 2014). Human interaction is a very critical factor which helps in the betterment of the patients. These interaction are enjoyed by the people and therefore they contribute for a better care of the patient. This feeling cannot be replace by the robotic nurses since whatever they say is mechanical and pre-programmed into them and they have a neutral way of speaking to the patient and not have a personal touch which is enjoyable for the patients. Therefore, this issue should be avoided especially for the vulnerable and sensitive patients. Fourthly, using robotic nurses might have safety and security issues. The increasing interaction that have emerged between the humans and the robots have raised serious concerns to the factor of safety and security (Deimel and Brock 2016). All the entities who are associated with robotic nurses would have to be responsible in their actions and understand all the potential safety issues that can come with the implementation of this technology on a large scale. The resources which would be invested in this technology have to be done with a deep understanding of the technology and by determining every safety and security factor which could prove to be a risk by the implementation if this technology (Ahmed et al. 2013). It is the most important factor since safety and avoiding any kind of harm is mandatory for the robotic nurses that are used in healthcare facilities since they have to deal with aged and very ill people and even children. Therefore, the technology has to be developed in such a way that they are able to provide the safety that is needed by these vulnerable patients. Moreover, security issues such as hacking are also a major problem with these technologies. This is because hackers can easily evade these technologies and exploit them for their own personal gain and thereby harming the patients and children. Lastly, another issue that comes into being with the usage of robotic nurses is the attribution of liability issues (Lee, Chan and Wang 2013). Since the robots are mechanical in nature, therefore, they cannot be made liable in case of any consequence or malfunctioning that might occur which is related to their functioning. There cannot be any person who can be held accountable by the deeds that would be done by the robotic nurses. It is a complicated process if the robot commit any crime or becomes associated with any act which can be considered illegal (Bubalo et al. 2014). In such cases the robotic nurses could not be punished and no legal action can be taken against them since they are not human beings. In instances like this, the liability can fall upon several other people who are associated to the robotic nurse in question such as the manufacturers, the providers, the technicians and the programmers. However, it is not the direct fault of these people if the robotic nurse commits any crime. The above mentioned reasons are the ethical, social and legal issues which proves to be a disadvantage for the people who might use the robotic nurse for their healthcare facilities.
The technology of robotic nurses could prove to be a great success despite their drawbacks. Even though the risks of the technology are many, it could definitely outweigh the advantages that are provided by this technology. The robotic nurses can help the patients to a great deal by providing them the ultimate care which is deserved by them and which will help them to stay in a happy and clean environment (Goeldner, Herstatt and Tietze 2015). Other than taking care of the patients, the robotic nurses will also work towards maintaining a hygienic and clean environment for the care receivers and will also interact with them as per the needs. Investing in this technology will prove to be beneficial since, people in current times do not have the time or the patience to give instruction to their caretakers on a daily basis which they do not have to do with the robots (Azeta et al. 2017). The robotic nurses will be pre-programmed with the tasks that they have to do ion a regular basis and they will be able to conduct these tasks with the most efficiency and in a timely manner without disrupting the peace of the care givers. This is why more people will be attracted to this technology ad want to use it since it lessens a lot of their burden of they are not well or if any of their family members are not well.
Conclusion
Hence, it can be concluded that robotic nurses is the technology of today’s time which can be beneficial for everyone who would like to live an easier life in times of sickness. The robotic nurses can help to lessen he burden and can become the technology which would be beneficial for the user. Investors would also be benefitted from this investment since the robotic nurses would prove to be quite ethical in their services and would be able to overcome the disadvantages in ethical, legal and social aspects which come with it and enhance the advantages in every manner of their performance.
References
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