Nurses Need AI — And AI Needs Nurses, Too
There’s no question about it: Artificial intelligence (AI) has arrived in healthcare. It brings with it many benefits for nurses and other care team members inside and outside the hospital. It is capturing visit notes, documenting them in the patient’s record and flagging key information.1 It is streamlining imaging reviews, helping specialists focus on results that need the most attention.1 It is even helping patients take care of themselves, uncovering medical insights that used to require painstaking research and delivering them to the palms of their hands.2
AI and Nursing Can Work Well Together — But There are Challenges, Too
Despite these benefits, the current state of AI in healthcare is far from perfect. While research shows that nurses are open to new technology,3 it also shows they need proof that it can help them improve quality and patient safety before they will trust it.3 Recent years have seen protests from clinicians concerned about the effects untested AI applications could have on patient safety.4 Legislation has even been introduced to keep the term “nurse” from appearing in the names of chat bots or other AI-driven technology.5
“I do see a certain level of hesitation with AI and predictive modeling coming into nursing practice,” says Harmony Robinson, MSN, NI-BC, CHES, Senior Manager of Clinical Informatics at Baxter. “We know technology can be great for helping nurses focus their time on their most important work. The fear is, are we degrading our clinicians’ critical thinking skills and their expert assessments when we lean on AI? It comes down to balance — and involving nurses in these decisions.”
Will AI replace nurses? Decidedly not — but when designed well, it can help them. Nurses need technology to help them free up time from administrative tasks so they can spend more time at the bedside and work at the top of their licenses. Likewise, technology like AI needs strong input from nurses in order to achieve these goals.
How Can You Choose AI Tools for Nurses That They Will Believe In?
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Involve your nurses in evaluating solutions. |
“Whenever I’ve had a nurse on my team come to me with concerns, whether they’re about technology or any sort of change, I would ask them, ‘What are you most worried about?’” shares Jennifer More, MN, RN, NPD-BC, Senior Manager of Clinical Informatics at Baxter. “Then, once I’d heard the feedback directly from them, I would follow up with, ‘Where do you see us being part of the solution?’ Perhaps we could get them involved in the team evaluating the new solution or process, so they can make sure to ask those good, tough questions, or add their expertise to the discussion. Often, when someone is defensive or skeptical, they really just want to be heard.”
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Better yet, choose an AI-based solution nurses helped develop. |
In a 2024 McKinsey & Company survey, 73% of responding nurses suggested that having nursing input into the design and optimization of AI tools would help alleviate their concerns about using AI in healthcare.3 Nurses need to be involved in developing AI that can improve patient care, support smoother workflows and add value based on real clinical experience and expertise. There are promising signs already: in 2024, Florida State University’s College of Nursing launched the nation’s first Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) with a concentration in artificial intelligence.6
| In a 2024 McKinsey & Company survey, 73% of responding nurses suggested that having nursing input into the design and optimization of AI tools would help alleviate their concerns about using AI in healthcare.3 |
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Show them the data — but give them an opportunity to disagree. |
Nurses are highly trained clinicians, and they rely on sound evidence to help them protect their patients. They appreciate augmented tools to help make educated predictions — but they are ultimately the ones tasked with caring for their patients.
“A human needs to be involved in the decision-making process in order for nurses to feel like they can trust it,” says More. “If a nurse clinically sees something different than what an AI or technology has predicted, they need the ability to override it in favor of their intuition. They want the data, but I think every nurse has a story of walking into a patient’s room and just knowing something is wrong. They need to be able to trust the AI-powered information, but ultimately use their own critical thinking to best protect their patients.”
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Address their fears head on. |
Clear communication can go a long way in alleviating fear — but only if it’s backed by action. “Sometimes, when nurses hear, ‘This technology will save you time,’ what they really hear is, ‘We’re going to change your staffing grid,’” cautions Robinson. “In these cases, leadership needs to address this concern directly. Is the goal to give nurses more patients, or to give them the help they need to put more focus on patient care? Clearly explain how the technology will be used, and then stand by it.”
Of course, addressing nurses’ concerns with AI and encouraging them to adopt new technologies is only half the job. AI developers need strong input from nurses in order to create solutions that truly meet their needs.
How Can Nurses Help Improve the Next Generation of AI in Healthcare?
Developers need to keep nurses and their concerns at the forefront of their innovations and investments. For example:
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Involve nurses as early and as often as possible. |
Involve nurses in the earliest stages of research to help ensure their feedback shapes the product design from the start. Whether it’s focus groups, surveys, immersion research or user testing, nurses’ voices should be heard throughout the development process. Nurses can also be involved in AI governance and oversight.3
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Prioritize AI for nurses as highly as AI for physicians. |
AI solutions designed to reduce administrative burden on physicians have been available for some time now. In a 2024 American Medical Association survey, approximately three in five physicians (66%) indicated they currently used AI in their practice.7 While both physicians and nurses are tasked with significant documentation, nurses’ needs and workflows are unique — so user research amongst nursing professionals should not be skipped.
“Developers need to ask themselves what they can do for nurses with regard to documentation,” says More. “Yes, physicians have to take a lot of notes during and after patient encounters, but we need to consider the documentation burden that has been placed on nurses over the years. Every time we ask a nurse to document something new, it’s taking time away from something else — so technology companies need to find every opportunity to reduce that.”
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Follow up after go-live. |
Once they’ve learned about nurses’ challenges and prioritized them in product design, developers should follow up with nursing users after implementation to gauge how well the product actually addresses these clinicians’ needs.
“We, as technology vendors, have a responsibility to measure and maximize the value our solutions bring to each customer,” says More. “Part of that involves asking questions like, for example, ‘Have we helped reduce caregiver burnout?’ or ‘Have we helped improve staff satisfaction?’ Collaborating with each customer to help assess these KPIs at go-live and beyond is so important.”
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Focus on features that address nurses’ top priorities. |
Nurses don’t want to spend more time at a computer or looking at a phone; they want to be at the bedside, caring for patients. Product roadmaps should reflect that priority.
“Technology can never replace a human nurse, but it can make their job easier,” says Robinson. “So the focus of automation should be helping them spend more time thinking critically about patient care, talking with patients and their families, or focusing on keeping patients safer. Every time we can remove a step, a click or a documentation task from a nurse’s workflow, we are giving them more time to focus on their patients.”
Nurses Can Benefit From AI’s Assistance — But First, AI Needs to Benefit From Nurses’ Expertise
When nurses are true partners in the development of AI solutions for healthcare, the possibilities are truly exciting.
“Nurses go to school for a long time to be given the privilege of caring for people,” says More. “When we think about connected care, yes we are connecting pieces of technology — but, ultimately, the goal is to help clinicians stay connected to their patients and fellow caregivers. And to do that well, we can't lose sight of the human component. So when you're looking at implementing technology, when you honor the voices of nurses throughout those processes, you are much more likely to win in the end.”
Are you ready for a smart, more connected healthcare experience?
We design our solutions to empower nurses and other front-line clinicians to do more of the work that matters to them — and to their patients. Learn more here, then reach out to your Baxter representative to begin your connected care journey.
Featured Contributors
Harmony Robinson, MSN, NI-BC, CHES, Senior Manager, Clinical Informatics | Baxter
Harmony began her career in public health, collaborating with nonprofit community organizations to address systemic health disparities and drive equity in care. She later transitioned into nursing, gaining critical frontline experience in... Read Full Bio
