Nurabot to assist nurses with routine tasks
The smart hospital market is expanding, with AI-assisted robots helping address workforce shortages and the challenges of an aging population.
Global health care faces a severe shortage of workers, with WHO projecting a deficit of 4.5 million nurses by 2030. Around one-third of nurses already experience burnout, and high turnover rates exacerbate staffing pressures.
Foxconn’s new AI-powered nursing robot, Nurabot, is designed to assist with repetitive and physically demanding tasks, potentially reducing nurses’ workload by up to 30%.
Nurabot moves autonomously around hospital wards, delivers medication, and guides patients, using a combination of Foxconn’s Chinese large language model and NVIDIA’s AI platforms.
Built with Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the robot was adapted and trained virtually to navigate hospital wards safely. Testing at Taichung Veterans General Hospital since April 2025 has shown promising results, with Foxconn planning a commercial launch in early 2026.
The ageing population and rising patient demand are straining health care systems worldwide. Experts say AI robots can boost efficiency and save the workforce, but issues remain, including patient preference, hospital design, safety, and data ethics.
Hospitals may need redesigns to accommodate free-moving humanoid robots effectively.
While robots like Nurabot cannot replace nurses, they can support staff by handling routine tasks and freeing professionals to provide critical patient care. The smart hospital market, worth $72.24 billion in 2025, shows rising investment in AI and robotics to address staff shortages and ageing populations.
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