Nursing in the Age of AI

When I began my nursing career in the early 1970s, healthcare operated on paper, people, and presence. There were no computers on the units, no electronic monitors, and no digital records. Everything was manual. Over the decades, I have witnessed extraordinary change. From early programming systems to electronic health records and voice-activated devices, technology has steadily reshaped the landscape of the healthcare practice.

Artificial intelligence is the next significant shift, and it is already here. AI has the potential to support nursing practice in meaningful ways. It can reduce administrative burden, assist with pattern recognition, enhance patient monitoring, improve clinical communication, and strengthen educational preparation. Used thoughtfully, it can give nurses more time to do what only humans can do well, which is care, advocate, and connect.

At the same time, we must approach AI with intention. Technology should strengthen nursing practice, not replace the human presence that defines it. Nurses bring judgment, empathy, ethics, and lived experience into every encounter. Those qualities cannot be automated.

I strongly encourage nurses to become informed participants in the development and integration of artificial intelligence within healthcare. We should not stand on the sidelines of this evolution. We should help shape it.

This section will continue to grow as I share deeper reflections, practical insights, and emerging considerations related to AI in nursing practice and education.

The conversation is just beginning.