Investigating Employee Acceptance of Automated Technologies in Healthcare: A Case Study on Automated Bed Washing Systems

The transition from manual to automated processes has become a central challenge that hinders the successful adoption of technologies, resulting in heightened resistance and anxiety among employees regarding technological changes. Therefore, this research aims to investigate individuals’ perceptions of automated technologies and identify variables impacting technology adoption. The research is based on a cross-sectional case study that examined the employees’ acceptance of the automated bed washer at three regional hospitals within the Midtjylland region in Denmark. This study extends the TAM by incorporating facilitating conditions, self-efficacy, social influence, anxiety, and trust. A mixed-method approach was applied for data collection, including insights from observations and results from interviews, complemented with a TAM-based questionnaire. Drawing from the results, facilitating conditions, self-efficacy and trust were identified as the key determinants impacting PU and PEOU.