The Role of Off-shift Robotic Telerounding Between Physicians and Nurses in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit

This is a mixed-method study, involving both surveys and ethnographic fieldwork. The research team will utilize the Collaboration and Satisfaction About Care Decisions (CSACD) survey instrument at regular intervals to assess nurse-physician collaboration. The instrument is validated and reliable and has been extensively tested. Permission was obtained to use the instrument. The ethnographic investigation will run concurrently and be performed by a doctoral student from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). No part of the study will involve patient intervention. The study will be conducted in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU).

The survey-based portion of the study is a prospective, randomized, crossover-controlled trial; it will generate ordinal data regarding nurse-physician collaboration and satisfaction. The ethnographic portion of the study will involve observation and interviews. The MIT student will engage in unobtrusive observational shadowing of APs and nurses throughout the study, and will formally interview each observed AP and nurse twice during the entire length of the study: once at the onset of the study, and once as the study draws to conclusion. This observational shadowing will include visits to the SICU. All participants will be consented for the study. Consent for and implementation of these methods will be undertaken in a manner consistent with current best research practice; extensive measures will be taken to protect staff confidentiality.