Initiative announced to examine ethics of AI in nursing

The University of Minnesota School of Nursing announced an initiative to examine the ethical implications of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in nursing. The group, whose steering committee was named by Dean Connie White Delaney, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, FNAP, has been charged with producing a strategy, including partnerships and engagement with Nursing Knowledge Big Data Science (NKBDS) Initiative leadership, to inform and expand scholarship in the profession’s adoption of the potentially beneficial, and also risky, new AI technology.

The initiative’s steering committee, which will feature national and international experts with nursing and industry expertise, will be co-chaired by Professor Jenna Marquard, PhD, the Cora Meidl Siehl Chair in Nursing Research at the University of Minnesota, and Associate Professor Martin Michalowski, PhD, FAMIA, a senior member in the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). Additional steering committee members announced during the NKBDS conference include:

Constantin Aliferis, MD, PhD, MS, FACMI, director of the Institute for Health Informatics;

Kathy Chappell, PhD, RN, FNAP, FAAN, senior vice president of Accreditation, Certification, Measurement, Quality and Research, American Nurses Credentialing Center;

Pamela Cipriano, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, president of the International Council of Nurses;

Tracee M. Coleman, MS, RN-BC, CPHIMS, Clinical Informatics Consultant, Optum Health;

Peter Klein, BA, CEO and founder of Educated Change;

Joyce Sensmeier, MS, RN-BC, CPHIMS, FAAN, senior advisor of informatics for HIMSS;

Olga Yakusheva, PhD, MSE, economist and a Professor of Nursing and Public Health at the University of Michigan.

“Artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize the care nursing provides; however without a better understanding of its implications and unintended consequences it also has the potential to cause tremendous harm,” says Dean Connie White Delaney. “Now is the time to develop a framework for the future use of AI in nursing and this initiative, along with others who will join, has the breadth and depth of knowledge to lead this effort.”

White Delaney anticipates meetings will begin this summer with the expectation that recommendations can be shared and implemented by nursing schools, nurse scientists, practitioners, health systems and nursing-related organizations by 2024.

The School of Nursing has a rich history in nursing informatics. In 2013, it invited nurse leaders to engage in addressing obstacles to achieving sharable and comparable nursing data leading to the establishment of the Nursing Knowledge Big Data Science Initiative, now in its 11^th year. The NKBDS conference is held annually on the University of Minnesota campus, with 10 working groups engaged throughout the year. In 2022 the ethics of AI was included in deliberations. The school also hosted the 18th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Medicine in 2020.