Artificial intelligence and nursing shortages: The challenges and opportunities: A narrative review

Q2 Nursing

International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences Pub Date : 2026-01-01 Epub Date: 2026-07-06 DOI:10.1016/j.ijans.2026.101131

Negar Yazdani, Maryam Shaygan

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction

Nurses are essential to healthcare, comprising about 56% of hospital staff. A nursing shortage harms healthcare quality and worsens with aging populations, rising demands, and burnout. Artificial intelligence (AI) offers hope to ease these challenges but faces its own limitations. This review examines how AI may help mitigate some drivers of nursing shortages, primarily through improvements in workload efficiency and task automation, while also considering the associated challenges.

Material and methods

A structured narrative review was conducted using the PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Science Direct databases, with Google Scholar as a supplementary tool. The search strategy employed predefined keywords, Boolean operators, and journal-specific parameters.

Results

Data were extracted from 70 research articles published between 2020 and 2024 and analyzed using constant comparative analysis. The benefits of AI in addressing nursing shortages include enhanced efficiency and productivity, improved access to accurate information, support for holistic healthcare through AI, and facilitation of clinical and administrative support for nursing professionals. However, as an emerging technology, AI faces challenges such as reduced patient interaction, data privacy concerns, over-reliance on technology, data entry quality issues, and the need for adequate user training.

Conclusions

This review suggests that AI may offer several benefits for nursing practice, including improved efficiency, better access to information, and support for holistic care. However, several challenges remain, such as reduced patient interaction, data privacy concerns, over-reliance on technology, and the need for adequate training. Addressing these barriers appears important for the successful integration of AI into nursing. These findings highlight areas that may require attention if AI is to effectively support nursing professionals and enhance patient care.

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人工智能与护理短缺：挑战与机遇：叙述性回顾

护士对医疗保健至关重要，约占医院工作人员的56%。护士短缺损害了医疗保健质量，并随着人口老龄化、需求增加和职业倦怠而恶化。人工智能（AI）为缓解这些挑战提供了希望，但也面临着自身的局限性。这篇综述探讨了人工智能如何帮助缓解护理短缺的一些驱动因素，主要是通过提高工作量效率和任务自动化，同时也考虑了相关的挑战。材料和方法采用PubMed、Embase、Scopus和Science Direct数据库，b谷歌Scholar作为辅助工具进行结构化叙述性综述。搜索策略使用预定义的关键字、布尔运算符和特定于期刊的参数。结果从2020 - 2024年间发表的70篇研究论文中提取数据，采用恒常比较分析法进行分析。人工智能在解决护理短缺问题方面的好处包括提高效率和生产力、改善对准确信息的获取、通过人工智能支持整体医疗保健，以及为护理专业人员提供临床和行政支持。然而，作为一项新兴技术，人工智能面临着诸如患者互动减少、数据隐私问题、过度依赖技术、数据输入质量问题以及需要充分的用户培训等挑战。结论本综述认为人工智能可以为护理实践提供一些好处，包括提高效率、更好地获取信息和支持整体护理。然而，仍然存在一些挑战，例如减少与患者的互动、数据隐私问题、过度依赖技术以及需要充分的培训。解决这些障碍对于将人工智能成功整合到护理中似乎很重要。如果人工智能要有效地支持护理专业人员并加强患者护理，这些发现突出了可能需要关注的领域。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences Nursing-Nursing (all)

CiteScore

2.40

自引率

0.00%

发文量

114

审稿时长

21 weeks

期刊介绍： International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences (IJANS) is an international scientific journal published by Elsevier. The broad-based journal was founded on two key tenets, i.e. to publish the most exciting research with respect to the subjects of Nursing and Midwifery in Africa, and secondly, to advance the international understanding and development of nursing and midwifery in Africa, both as a profession and as an academic discipline. The fully refereed journal provides a forum for all aspects of nursing and midwifery sciences, especially new trends and advances. The journal call for original research papers, systematic and scholarly review articles, and critical papers which will stimulate debate on research, policy, theory or philosophy of nursing as related to nursing and midwifery in Africa, technical reports, and short communications, and which will meet the journal''s high academic and ethical standards. Manuscripts of nursing practice, education, management, and research are encouraged. The journal values critical scholarly debate on issues that have strategic significance for educators, practitioners, leaders and policy-makers of nursing and midwifery in Africa. The journal publishes the highest quality scholarly contributions reflecting the diversity of nursing, and is also inviting international scholars who are engaged with nursing and midwifery in Africa to contribute to the journal. We will only publish work that demonstrates the use of rigorous methodology as well as by publishing papers that highlight the theoretical underpinnings of nursing and midwifery as it relates to the Africa context.