Could AI Nurses Ease Staffing Shortages?

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The Growing Demand for Nurses and the Role of AI-Powered Robots

Health care systems around the world are facing a significant challenge: a shortage of nurses. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is an expected shortage of 4.5 million nurses by 2030. This scarcity is already putting pressure on existing nursing staff, with one-third of nurses globally experiencing burnout symptoms such as emotional exhaustion. The profession also has a high turnover rate, which exacerbates the problem.

To address these challenges, companies are turning to technology. One such innovation is Nurabot, an autonomous, AI-powered nursing robot designed to assist nurses with repetitive or physically demanding tasks. These include delivering medication, guiding patients around the ward, and managing other routine duties. By taking on these tasks, Nurabot aims to reduce the workload of nurses, allowing them to focus on more critical aspects of patient care.

Foxconn, the Taiwanese multinational behind Nurabot, claims that the robot can reduce nurses’ workload by up to 30%. Alice Lin, director of user design at Foxconn, emphasized that Nurabot is not meant to replace nurses but rather to work alongside them. “This is not a replacement of nurses, but more like accomplishing a mission together,” she said. By handling repetitive tasks, the robot enables nurses to concentrate on making judgment calls based on their professional experience and providing direct patient care.

Development and Integration of AI Technology

Nurabot was developed in just 10 months and has been undergoing testing at a hospital in Taiwan since April 2025. The company is now preparing for a commercial launch in early 2026. However, the exact retail price of the robot is still unknown.

The development of Nurabot involved collaboration with Japanese robotics company Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The robot is based on Kawasaki’s “Nyokkey” service robot model, which moves autonomously on wheels, uses robotic arms to lift and hold items, and is equipped with multiple cameras and sensors for navigation. Foxconn adapted this model to meet the specific needs of hospital environments, adding features such as a secure storage space for bottles and vials.

AI plays a crucial role in Nurabot’s functionality. The robot uses Foxconn’s Chinese large language model for communication, while NVIDIA provided its core AI and robotics infrastructure. NVIDIA combined multiple proprietary AI platforms to create Nurabot’s programming, enabling it to navigate hospitals independently, schedule tasks, and respond to verbal and physical cues. Additionally, AI was used to train and test the robot in a virtual hospital environment, which accelerated its development.

David Niewolny, director of business development for health care and medical at NVIDIA, explained that AI allows Nurabot to “perceive, reason, and act in a more human-like way” and adapt its behavior based on specific patient needs and situations.

Challenges and Opportunities in Healthcare Robotics

While AI-enhanced systems offer potential benefits, they also present challenges. Staffing shortages are not the only issue facing the healthcare sector. The global elderly population is growing rapidly, with the number of people aged 60 and over expected to increase by 40% by 2030. By the mid-2030s, the number of individuals aged 80 and older is predicted to outnumber infants.

Rick Kwan, a nursing and public health professor at Tung Wah College in Hong Kong, believes that AI-assisted robots can help reduce repetitive work and save manpower. However, he also highlights the need for infrastructure changes in hospitals, as many facilities are not designed to accommodate robots. Safety and ethical considerations, including data protection protocols, are also important factors to consider.

Robots are not entirely new to healthcare. Surgical robots like the da Vinci system have been used for decades to improve accuracy during operations. More recently, free-moving humanoids have begun assisting hospital staff and patients. In Singapore, Changi General Hospital has over 80 robots helping with administrative tasks and medicine delivery. In the U.S., nearly 100 Moxi bots, built by Texas-based Diligent Robots, are used to carry medications, samples, and supplies across hospital wards.

Despite these advancements, the effectiveness of nursing robots remains a topic of debate. A recent review of robots in nursing found that while nurses perceive increased efficiency and reduced workload, there is limited experiential evidence to confirm these benefits. Technical malfunctions, communication difficulties, and the need for ongoing training remain significant challenges.

The Expanding Market for Healthcare Technology

Tech companies are increasingly investing in the $9.8 trillion healthcare market. In addition to NVIDIA, Amazon and Google are exploring opportunities in this sector. The smart hospital industry is a small but rapidly growing component of the market, valued at $72.24 billion in 2025, according to market research firm Mordor Intelligence. The Asia Pacific region is the fastest-growing market in this space.

Nurabot is currently being piloted at Taichung Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan, where it is being tested on a ward treating diseases related to the lungs, face, and neck. During this phase, the robot has limited access to the hospital’s data system, and Foxconn is conducting extensive testing to evaluate its performance. Metrics such as reduced walking distance for nurses and improved delivery accuracy are being tracked, along with qualitative feedback from patients and staff.

According to Foxconn, early results indicate that Nurabot is reducing daily nursing workload by approximately 20–30%. The robot is expected to be formally integrated into daily nursing operations later this year, ahead of its commercial debut in early 2026.

While Nurabot may not solve the overall shortage of nurses, it could help alleviate some of the pressures caused by an aging society and hospitals struggling to retain talent. As the healthcare sector continues to evolve, the integration of AI-powered robots like Nurabot may play a key role in shaping the future of patient care.