Artificial Intelligence Can Revolutionize the Care Nurses Deliver

Artificial intelligence (AI) may assist nurses with creating detailed nursing care plans, a Columbia University School of Nursing study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA). 

The study focused on hospitalized older adults with lung cancer, a condition that requires meticulous and complex management. Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in both men and women in the United States, with an overall five-year survival rate of less than 30% for non-small cell lung cancer. Patients also often experience multiple symptoms, especially respiratory insufficiency. Such complexities require nurses' increased presence in symptom management, comfort care, and care plan documentation.  

To conduct the study, researchers developed and validated a method for structuring ChatGPT prompts that produce high-quality nursing care plans. Prompts act as the instructions the AI language model uses to generate responses. Their method involved providing detailed patient information and listing questions that should be considered when creating the appropriate plan. They refined this Patient’s Needs Framework over 10 rounds using 22 diverse hypothetical patient cases to ensure that ChatGPT-generated plans were consistent and aligned with typical nursing care plans.  

Their findings revealed ChatGPT could prioritize critical aspects of care such as oxygenation, infection prevention, fall risk, and emotional support, while also providing thorough explanations for each suggested intervention, making it a valuable tool for nurses.