Rise of the Robots: Is Artificial Intelligence a Friend or Foe to Nursing Practice?
Abstract
Much like other aspects of health care, nursing has become increasingly saturated with technology over the past several decades. Existing technology has advanced nursing in many ways and contributed to patient safety but at the cost of decreasing nurse-patient interaction. As health care technology progresses to the inclusion of artificial intelligence (AI), the future impact on nursing and direct patient care remains largely unknown, unexplored, and difficult to predict. This article aims to explore the relevance of nursing in a technologically advanced postmodern health care system. The relevance of nursing in the future is solidified by the unique nature of nursing that includes the embodiment of human caring and emotional intelligence. Nurses' abilities to intervene before patient deterioration, care for patients holistically, and manage various aspects of care will be heightened by the adoption of AI. Nurses should embrace AI technology, as we predict that it will decrease nurse workload and cognitive overload and allow for increased patient-nurse interaction. Current and future nurses should take the lead on determining how it augments nursing practice.
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Nursing faces increasing pressure due to changing demographics and a shortage of skilled workers.
“European healthcare, challenged by an aging population and nursing staff shortages, faces increasing demands and work-related stress [9, 10].”
From Nurses’ perceptions, experience and knowledge regarding artificial intelligence: results from a cross-sectional online survey in Germany (2024) · cites this paper as [10]
AI offers an opportunity to relieve nurses and reduce pressure.
“Consequently, AI-supported solutions are emerging as key responses to these pressures [8, 10].”
From Nurses’ perceptions, experience and knowledge regarding artificial intelligence: results from a cross-sectional online survey in Germany (2024) · cites this paper as [10]
Concerns include unawareness, mistrust, anxiety, worries about the patient relationship and job replacement.
“Concerns include unawareness, mistrust, anxiety, worries about the patient relationship and job replacement [5, 8, 10, 13, 25–27].”
From Nurses’ perceptions, experience and knowledge regarding artificial intelligence: results from a cross-sectional online survey in Germany (2024) · cites this paper as [10]
Nurses anticipate AI to alleviate the increasing burdens in nursing, particularly amidst current staff shortages and escalating workloads.
“Nurses anticipate AI to alleviate the increasing burdens in nursing, particularly amidst current staff shortages and escalating workloads [9, 10].”
From Nurses’ perceptions, experience and knowledge regarding artificial intelligence: results from a cross-sectional online survey in Germany (2024) · cites this paper as [10]
With the mounting pressure on nursing, AI is poised to play a vital role in alleviating healthcare staff and meeting the escalating nursing demands in Western Europe.
“With the mounting pressure on nursing, AI is poised to play a vital role in alleviating healthcare staff and meeting the escalating nursing demands in Western Europe [10, 23].”
From Nurses’ perceptions, experience and knowledge regarding artificial intelligence: results from a cross-sectional online survey in Germany (2024) · cites this paper as [10]
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- Authors
- Watson, D., Womack, J., & Papadakos, S.
- Affiliations
- United States Department of Defense (US)
- Corresponding author
- Womack, Joshua
- ORCID
- Watson, Daniel
- Venue
- Critical Care Nursing Quarterly
- Published
- 2020-07
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 303-311
- ISSN
- 0887-9303 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3028515196
- Cited by
- 48
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 1.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Critical Care Nursing Quarterly (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Health Informatics › Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Research and Theory › Nursing education and management
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Nursing Roles and Practices
- Keywords
- artificial intelligence in nursing, nursing technology, nurse-patient interaction, patient safety, human caring, emotional intelligence, nursing workload, cognitive overload, holistic care, future of nursing practice, nursing role in health care
- MeSH terms
- Artificial Intelligence, Delivery of Health Care, Humans, Nurse-Patient Relations, Nursing Care, Robotics, Technology, Emotional Intelligence
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