| Three insect-like robotic arms reaching into the chest | | | | pressures and opportunities for the healthcare |
| cavity of the patient lying on the surgery table hum | | | | workforce to renew itself through new training and |
| quietly while... the surgeon is sitting in a nearby | | | | career planning. |
| remote-control booth, carefully directing the delicate | | | | The inevitable trend is already visiting our hospitals in a |
| operation from a distance with a 3-D precision that | | | | form that will certainly impact the way our nurses and |
| was not possible before. | | | | healthcare professionals will be trained and employed |
| Or, here is the 5-feet high porter robot with blinking | | | | in the near future: robots are taking over an increasing |
| lights, moving slowly on its rubber wheels through the | | | | number of functions, ranging from critical surgical |
| crowded hallways of a hospital... it is quietly waiting for | | | | operations to the delivery of various items around a |
| the elevator to arrive so it can deliver the blankets it's | | | | hospital. |
| carrying to the nurse station on the top floor... | | | | Robots, whether used in delicate surgery or just to |
| Such scenes will become increasingly frequent in the | | | | carry goods around the hospital, are here to stay. This |
| hospitals of the future. | | | | trend will eventually both present new challenges for |
| But guess what? Such a development was | | | | some of our nurses as well as provide them with new |
| prophesied over a hundred years ago by the early | | | | and exciting venues to ratchet their credentials to new |
| pioneers of the 19th century political economy - that in | | | | heights of professional excellence. |
| a capitalist market, any given set of manual skill will | | | | That's why in our hi-tech future, the education and |
| eventually get replaced by machines for higher | | | | on-the-job training of our nurses will be more important |
| productivity and profits. And that creates both new | | | | than in any other period in history. |