Fulfilling AI’s Potential in Healthcare: A Conversation with AONL CEO, Robyn Begley

By Rhonda Collins, DNP, RN, FAAN, Chief Nursing Officer, Kontakt.io
LinkedIn: Rhonda Collins, DNP, RN, FAAN
LinkedIn: Kontakt.io

I’ve been in the nursing profession for nearly 40 years and recently sat down with AONL CEO, Robyn Begley, to get her take on the future of nursing leadership. With the workplace violence epidemic, advancements of AI in healthcare, and other factors — this can be a lot to process. Here are my thoughts following our discussion.

Nurses are among the most trusted medical professionals, but to have more influence and impact in their roles and healthcare systems, they must become more involved in assessing, adopting, and advocating for new technology.

However, nursing is currently facing numerous challenges, including an increase in violence against healthcare workers, staffing shortages that have exacerbated burnout, and the looming rise of artificial intelligence (AI) that could change how nurses practice.

For the profession to grow and prosper, nurses must embrace new technology such as AI not only by using it, but also by participating in designing digital tools that positively impact their jobs.

Stress and burnout from violence and workplace shortages

Across the nation, healthcare workers have experienced a surge in workplace violence, with the problem driven in part by issues and tensions that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic. A nationwide survey conducted by National Nurses United earlier this year found that 81.6% of nurses have experienced at least one type of workplace violence within the past year.

Nearly half of nurses (45.5%) reported an increase in workplace violence in their unit in the previous year, whereas just 3.8% reported a decrease. The increase in workplace violence has profound potential to disrupt the healthcare workforce, with 6 in 10 registered nurses (RNs) leaving or considering leaving their job or the nursing profession entirely due to workplace violence, according to the survey. Begley elaborates, “One of the indicators that I believe is not going in the right direction, is the one around workplace violence. We need to have our workplaces be places that we want to go to, where we feel fulfilled.”

Also contributing to nursing stress are rampant staffing shortages across the healthcare workforce, which, unfortunately, are likely to grow more severe in the coming years. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce projects 193,100 openings for RNs on average every year until 2032. However, the U.S. is expected to add only 177,400 nurses during the entire decade from 2022 to 2032. That’s nearly 1.8 million nursing roles that will not be filled, adding to the burnout and professional exodus we’re seeing today.

Rising violence and staffing shortages have combined to create a surge in nurse burnout, which is caused by unmanaged, chronic workplace stress. Nurse burnout is very common, with one survey showing that almost two-thirds of nurses experience burnout. It’s especially common among younger nurses, with 69% of nurses under 25 reporting burnout, according to the American Nurses Association.

These challenges facing the nursing profession – violence, staffing shortages, and burnout – create a ripple of rising costs and lower quality-of-care across the nation.

How AI will impact nurses

For years, the medical profession has been talking about the intersection of technology and clinical practice. A couple decades ago, some nurses found it intimidating to use electronic health records and were nervous when not using pen-and-paper to perform patient documentation.

Today, we may be facing a similar crossroads with AI, as many nurses are understandably uncertain about how this emerging technology may impact their work lives. For example, earlier this year, hundreds of California nurses publicly protested the use of AI at Kaiser Permanente. These California nurses are advocating to be involved in every step of the decision-making process when AI is deployed at the health system.

But the reality is that health systems are adopting AI to aid and augment the work of their nurses, helping relieve burdensome manual tasks like documentation and information management. Hospital leaders stress that AI should be used as a tool to support human assessment and decision-making, which will always be at the center of all medical care.

However, to achieve a symbiotic relationship with AI, it is essential that nurses trust the technology – and that requires nurses to be included in the decision-making processes around adoption and implementation. This is critical. And on this topic Begley says, “I think that there’s lots of opportunity for us to learn what AI can deliver, and we have to embrace it and not shy away from it.”

Additionally, nurses can join or form advocacy groups that provide education on technology adoption and share best practices for successful initiatives. These groups can help nurses and nurse leaders build additional competency with digital tools and assist colleagues during new technology implementation. It’s no longer sufficient for nurses and nursing leadership to merely say, “Our IT people will handle that.”

When nurses don’t have a seat at the table, they may find that they are the ones on the menu. However, by taking a more active role in technology adoption and implementation, nurses can ensure that they gain the influence that they deserve.