How the results might affect nursing care and patient needs were interpreted in line with the literature. Changes in the themes found may require new changing needs. Shorter stay for patients, shorter or longer operation time, less pain etc. The effects of robotic surgery on the patient were evaluated under seven themes.

Operative time

The operative time of robotic surgery was evaluated in the articles. There are different results that show the operating time of robotic surgery to be shorter [17, 20, 25] and longer [22,23,24] than other methods. While there are studies showing that the duration of robotic surgery is longer in endometrial cancer surgeries [22, 23] one study [17] has shown it to be shorter. When the robotic surgery operative time was compared in hysterectomy and abdominal approaches, it was observed that there were different results [20, 24, 25]. No significant difference was found in studies comparing the duration of robotic surgery in obese and elderly patients [18, 19]. It has been stated that the surgeon’s experience and the training of the operating room staff will contribute to shortening the operating time [7, 29, 30]. In terms of nursing care, job descriptions in robotic surgery can be made and situations that prolong the operation time can be determined.

Length of stay

Studies have shown that robotic surgery does not prolong hospital stay. However, in five studies out of ten no effect of robotic surgery on length of stay was observed, while in three studies it was observed that it shortened the length of stay [17, 22, 25].

Complications, estimated blood loss, pain

While there are results showing a decrease in complications in studies, there are also results that do not find a significant difference. It cannot be said that robotic surgery treatment completely reduces complications after gynecological surgery. Compared to laparoscopic surgery, robotic surgery has been shown to reduce estimated blood loss. Only one study showed greater blood loss in robotic surgery. In two studies comparing robotic surgery and laparoscopic surgery, pain was found to be significantly reduced in patients after robotic surgery. Reducing pain after surgery will also reduce patients’ need for painkillers. This may facilitate nursing care.

Survivor, conversion

The effect of robotic surgery on survival was examined in two studies. In one study, robotic surgery was not found to be significant in survival, while in another it was found to be more effective in five-year survival. Conversion was evaluated in six studies. Conversion was not required in two of the studies [21, 25]. In a study comparing robotic surgery and laparoscopic treatments, the conversion rate of robotic surgery to open surgery was found to be lower than laparoscopy [24]. Transitions from robotic surgery to laparotomy were observed in two studies [18, 23]. In a study evaluating the treatment of elderly and very elderly patients with robotic surgery, a total of seven patients were converted to open surgery [19]. Conversion is a new definition developed by minimally invasive surgery for nurses. The transformation from robotic surgery to laparotomy or open surgery is a new role for nursing.

Effectiveness of robotic surgery for gynecological patients

RAS (robot-assisted surgery) is a system in which robots are used in a minimally invasive surgery method. It functions under the guidance of robot surgeons [31]. It is argued that with an experienced and trained team, the effectiveness of robotic surgery will increase and eliminate complexity in difficult parts of the body [29, 31]. There are studies showing that robot-assisted surgery is safe and effective in gynecological patients [29, 32, 33]. According to the patient results in our review, it appears that robotic surgery can also be used in gynecological patients. However, when we compare the results with laparoscopic surgery, we cannot always say that robotic surgery is superior. This may vary depending on the type of surgery and patient characteristics (age, obesity).

Nursing care needs for gynecologic patients who underwent robotic surgery

The surgical center is a risky area of the hospital where critical decisions are made, where emergency or elective surgical diagnoses and treatments are made. Patient safety and comfort are considered the primary areas in robotic surgery. Organizing the perioperative period and continuity of care is the responsibility of the nurse. Robotic surgery has increased with technological advances, does not change the reality of care, which is the basic duty of the nurse. However, these practices may add different roles to nurses. In addition, nurses also play a role in robot management [1, 34].

The themes of our research, operation time, conversion and estimated blood loss, are the results that affect the intraoperative period. In our rapid review there are studies showing that robotic surgery prolongs the operation time and concluding that conversion to laparoscopy or open surgery has occurred. We conclude that the estimated blood loss is reduced more with robotic surgery. We believe that there is a need for nursing research intraoperative gynecological patients using robotic surgery.

Prolonged hospital stay, complications and pain are undesirable situations in the postoperative period. The solution of robotic surgery in these areas can increase the quality of nursing care and patient satisfaction.

Limitations

Rapid reviews are syntheses in which systematic reviews are simplified. However, it has been stated that it is useful for nurses in clinical practice [12]. Although the search, screening and abstraction stages were not carried out as meticulously as a systematic review, this study provides up-to-date information to nurses on the subject.

A further limitation was introduced by simplifying the search and screening steps, creating the risk of missing some relevant evidence. However, the initial decision-making process of the study and the inclusion of the articles were decided by two researchers in a face-to-face meeting. Additionally, the researchers’ expertise in the fields of nursing, surgical nursing, and gynecology nursing was effective in reducing the risk of bias.