Global Research Trends, Hotspots, Impacts, and Emerging Developments in Intelligent Operating Room Nursing: A 10-Year Bibliometric Analysis
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Background and Objectives
The integration of intelligent technologies in operating room nursing represents a rapidly evolving field requiring systematic analysis to understand global research trends and development patterns. This study aimed to comprehensively analyze worldwide research trends, identify key contributors, and reveal emerging developments in intelligent operating room nursing through bibliometric analysis.
Methods
A comprehensive literature search was conducted across six international databases (Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL) from January 2015 to April 2025. Following rigorous screening criteria, 291 eligible articles were analyzed using R software with bibliometrix package, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace for bibliometric analysis, network visualization, and thematic evolution assessment.
Results
Publication output increased from 16 articles in 2015 to 49 in 2024, with 45.4% of total publications concentrated in 2022-2024. The United States dominated with 132 publications, followed by Germany and the United Kingdom (33 each). Technical University of Munich led institutional contributions with 7 publications. Six major research themes emerged: operating room management, robotic technology, nursing practice, patient safety, quality improvement, and intelligent algorithms. Keyword analysis revealed evolution from early focus on operating room scheduling and multi-objective optimization (2017) to deep learning applications (2020-2023), natural language processing (2023), and robotic scrub nurse development (2023-2025).
Conclusions
The field demonstrates rapid growth with clear thematic evolution toward human-machine collaboration systems. Future research should prioritize comparative effectiveness studies, implementation science methodologies, and global health equity considerations to ensure widespread clinical translation.
