Will Artificial Intelligence change the role of nurses in patient care? – A Literature Review (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Abstract—This study investigates the relationship between AI use and impact on the role of nurses in patient care. AI exists in healthcare for clinical decision support, disease management, patient engagement and operational improvement and will continue to grow in popularity, especially in the nursing field. OBJECTIVE Examining whether AI integration into nursing practice may have led to a change in the role of nurses in patient care or not is the main goal of this study. METHODS To compile pertinent data on AI and nursing and their relationship, a thorough systematic review literature analysis was conducted using secondary data sources, including academic literature, industry reports, and government publications. To categorize and find patterns in the data, thematic analysis was used. To demonstrate whether a role change did exist or is forecasted to exist case studies of AI applications, and examples were also relied on. RESULTS The research shows that all healthcare practitioners will be impacted by the revolutionary technology known as artificial intelligence (AI). Nurses should be at the forefront of this technology and empowered throughout the implementation process of any of its tools that may accelerate innovation, improve decision-making, automate and speed up processes and saving overall cost in the nursing practice. CONCLUSIONS This study adds to the body of knowledge already existing about the existing applications of AI in nursing and its consequences in changing the role of nurses in patient care. To investigate further the connection between AI and the role of nurses in patient care, future studies can use quantitative techniques such as nurses who have been involved in AI tool deployment whether from a design aspect or use operationally and empirical data gathering for that purpose.