Implementation of new technology can influence the surgical team's performance. Aim: To investigate a novice robotic nurse team's learning curves and mental load on the Medtronic Hugo RAS system. Methods: An observer noted the nurses' surgical tasks performed on the Hugo. All nurses completed two questionnaires about mental load (SURG-TLX) and technology acceptance (TAM) following surgery. Findings: Twenty robot-assisted inguinal hernia repairs were performed with no observable plateau in the learning curve for the preoperative and perioperative phases. On average, the researchers found a slightly higher score for the scrub nurse's mental load (median 27 points, IQR 14–47) than the circulating nurse (median 14.5 points, IQR 10–38). Conclusion: There was no observable plateau in the learning curve for the pre- and perioperative tasks. The scrub nurse function had a higher mental load than the circulating nurse function, with one nurse having a mental load score above the recommended level.
Olsen et al. (Thu,) studied this question.