Nurses Raise Alarms Over AI Replacing Critical Care Judgment

Hospitals across the U.S. are increasingly turning to AI to assist nurses with routine tasks, from answering patient questions to monitoring vital signs.

Companies like Hippocratic AI and Qventus promise efficiency, but many nurses warn that AI’s expanding role could jeopardize patient care, as reported by the AP.

“Hospitals have been waiting for the moment when they have something that appears to have enough legitimacy to replace nurses,” said Michelle Mahon of National Nurses United, the largest nursing union in the U.S., as reported by the AP. The group has organized more than 20 protests demanding oversight of AI use in hospitals.

The AP reports that nurses say AI-driven systems can generate false alarms and override their judgment. Adam Hart, an ER nurse in Nevada, recalled an AI system incorrectly flagging a patient for sepsis, nearly leading to an excessive IV fluid dose. “Turning over our thought processes to these devices is reckless and dangerous,” he said, as reported by the AP.

Melissa Beebe, a cancer nurse at UC Davis, says AI alerts often interrupt nurses unnecessarily. “You’re trying to focus on your work but then you’re getting all these distracting alerts that may or may not mean something,” she said, reports the AP.

Hospitals argue AI can ease workloads amid a national nursing shortage, noted the AP. More than 100,000 nurses left the workforce during the pandemic, and the government estimates 190,000 new openings will appear annually through 2032.

Some health experts see AI as a tool rather than a replacement.

“It would be foolish to turn our back on this completely,” said Michelle Collins, dean of Loyola University’s College of Nursing, reports the AP. “We should embrace what it can do to augment our care, but we should also be careful it doesn’t replace the human element,” he added.

At the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences, AI assistants handle pre-surgery calls, reaching patients outside standard hours. Dr. Joseph Sanford, who oversees the hospital’s health IT, insists transparency is key. “We always want to be fully transparent with our patients that sometimes they are talking to a human and sometimes they’re not,” he said, reported the AP.
Meanwhile, companies like Xoltar are developing AI avatars to provide therapy and health coaching. However experts like Roschelle Fritz warn that AI may not be suited for complex cases.

“It’s the very sick who are taking up the bulk of health care in the U.S., and whether or not chatbots are positioned for those folks is something we really have to consider,” she said, as reported by the AP. With AI’s role in health care growing, nurses are demanding safeguards to ensure technology supports—rather than replaces—their expertise.