NLN Publishes New Vision Statement on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Nursing Education

NLN Publishes New Vision Statement on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Nursing Education

AI & the Vision Statement Will Be the Focus of the PCEO Address at the NLN Education Summit

Washington, DC – As artificial intelligence has moved from the realm of science fiction to fact, it is right now actively reshaping clinical decision-making, workforce operations and patient engagement. With this rapid AI-driven transformation in health care delivery, it is essential that nursing education keep pace to prepare nursing graduates for the challenges and opportunities of technology-immersive patient care.

With an aim to facilitate and lead this process, the National League for Nursing has just published Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Nursing Education, the latest installment in the renowned NLN Vision Series. The statement issues a call to action to nurse educators and their collaborative partners in medicine and public health to align with national priorities, promote innovation, and uphold the League’s Core Values, as they integrate AI into curriculum design, research and practice.

To do so effectively, nurse educators have an urgent responsibility to become knowledgeable, literate, and confident in the complexities of artificial intelligence — its powers of reasoning; analytic capabilities; organizing principles; practical applications; ethical dimensions; and health policy implications. 

Grounded in excellence, inclusivity and integrity, the Vision Statement offers a roadmap to nursing education leaders, faculty and stakeholders to build a digitally literate, ethically focused, and nimble nursing workforce prepared to leverage AI to advance the health of our nation and interconnected worldwide community.

“The integration of AI into health care is rapidly transforming practice, education and policy. For nursing, this dramatic shift presents both a challenge and a vital opportunity to modernize our curricula, prepare future nurse leaders, and ensure inclusive, high-quality and safe care for every person, family, community and nation,” said NLN Chair Patricia Sharpnack, DNP, RN, CNE, NEA-BC, ANEF, FAAN, Dean and Strawbridge Professor at the Breen School of Nursing and Health Professions at Ursuline College in Ohio.

“The integration of AI into nursing education is not optional. As AI redefines health care delivery, nursing must prepare graduates who are literate in AI technologies and competent in using them ethically and effectively. This requires coordinated action across academic, clinical, public service, and industry sectors through investment in faculty development, curricular redesign, and innovation ecosystems,” said NLN President and CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN.

Dr. Malone will address AI and the new Vision Statement during her PCEO Address on Thursday, September 18, during the annual NLN Education Summit in Orlando, Florida. This year’s theme is The Challenge: Unraveling the Mysteries of AI and features keynote speakers on Integrating AI into Nursing Education, the AI Revolution in Nursing Education, and Empowering Nurse Educators to Use AI in Immersive Simulation and Beyond.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Nursing Education outlines explicit recommendations for the League itself along with deans and directors of nursing programs across the spectrum of higher education and their faculty to engage in professional development; investment in resources; creation of tools and methodologies for effective AI implementation; and the design of academic and practice environments with the flexibility to respond to fast-evolving AI-focused curricular and clinical innovations.

One priority is the establishment of national standards for AI literacy and competency for licensed nurses. Such standards must seek to distinguish between foundational AI knowledge — for example ethical implications, societal impact and basic functionality—and more advanced skills needed to apply AI tools in clinical decision-making, patient monitoring, and workflow optimization. The latter will be crucial for the preparation of a nursing workforce filling the full scope of practice roles in multiple clinical settings to safely and ethically engage with AI technologies.

To prepare them to effectively teach and assess student competencies, nurse educators are urged to engage in professional development — workshops, micro-credentialing and interdisciplinary collaboration with data scientists and tech experts — that provides greater sophistication in understanding and utilizing AI. This year, the National League for Nursing conducted several webinars about AI and now offers an OnDemand Course called Advancing Nursing Education with AI: Leveraging ChatGPT.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Nursing Education also stresses the need for curricular innovation to provide students with hands-on, experiential learning; investment by educational institutions in infrastructure that includes adopting AI-enabled learning platforms, simulation tools, and data analytics systems, all of which make possible scalable, equitable, and sustainable integration of AI; flexible approaches to curricular models that can be swiftly updated and revised as the AI landscape evolves; and a culture of innovation that welcomes rapid change and encourages out-of-the-box experimentation.

Find the Vision Statement and additional resources and information at NLN.org.

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