Nearly half of U.S. nurses report using generative artificial intelligence on the job, reflecting growing comfort with the technology even as concerns persist around safeguards, training and overreliance, according to a Jan. 27 report from Wolters Kluwer Health.
The report, “Nursing Insights: Redefining Nursing Practice for an AI-Driven Future,” is part of Wolters Kluwer’s Future Ready Healthcare initiative. It examines how nurses view the expanding role of AI in clinical practice. The company said the goal of the research was to better understand whether technologies such as generative AI could help address persistent workforce challenges while maintaining patient trust and clinical judgment.
Here are six key findings from the report:
- Forty-six percent of nurses said they use generative AI in the workplace, while 58% reported using the technology in their personal lives.
- Forty-five percent said generative AI could help reduce burnout by automating documentation, triaging routine patient questions and streamlining workflows.
- Nurses also see potential benefits for training and onboarding. Sixty-two percent said integrating AI into onboarding and education could help new graduates and transfers become productive more quickly, and 28% said AI-enhanced onboarding makes new staff more confident in their roles.
- Despite broad interest in AI, the survey found gaps in governance and preparation. Only 22% of respondents said their organizations have published policies governing generative AI use, and the same share said formal training is required before the tools are deployed in nursing workflows.
- Fifty-three percent of nurses said they worry generative AI could undermine decision-making skills or lead to overreliance on algorithmic outputs.
- Still, most nurses view AI as an important part of healthcare’s future. Seventy-seven percent said generative AI will be important to their organization’s productivity, while 54% said it could enhance innovation and collaboration.
The survey underlying the report was conducted in early 2025 by Ipsos and included a nationally representative sample of U.S. healthcare professionals, including nurses, physicians, pharmacists, administrators and medical librarians.
The findings align with broader trends Becker’s has reported on the growing use of generative AI across the healthcare workforce. Forty percent of so-called pink-collar healthcare workers, including physicians and nurses, reported using generative AI at work at least once a week in January 2024, up from 11% five months earlier, according to a report from management consulting firm Oliver Wyman. By comparison, 51% of white-collar healthcare workers, such as executives and researchers, reported weekly use, while the average across industries was 55%.
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