AI in the Nursing Sector - Applications and Limitations

Nursing refers to the process or art of taking care of patients until they are fully recovered and healthy again. While artificial intelligence is the process of embedding technologies in the machines to improve their capability of decision making. In this blog we will emphasize over where these two spheres combine, how they evolve the overall development of mankind.

 

Speaking of AI, check out how AutoAI is important

 

 

What is the nursing sector?

 

Before jumping to the role of artificial intelligence, let us clear the concept of nursing in mind. Nursing is an important part of the healthcare system. Nursing is both a function of the heart and a mind. 

 

As a heart function, nursing is a fundamental duty devoted to human dignity and an intuition for a patient’s needs. In terms of mind, it is a form of rigorous core learning. Each nurse serving in the nursing system has specific strength, passion, and expertise, satisfying the special and complex nursing network.

 

Functions of the nurses

 

Nurses not only consider the test results of the patients. They use their judgment to integrate objective data with subjective experience. The exact responsibility of nurses varies from organization to organization and healthcare to healthcare. 

 

(Suggested Read - Healthcare Technologies)

 

They are assigned to take an all-encompassing view of a patient’s wellbeing. The nurses make sure that every patient receives the best possible healthcare regardless of any discrimination.

 

Types of nurses

 

The nurses work in hospitals, clinics, and sometimes directly with the patient’s family or the patient himself. Depending upon the functions and duties, the nurses are categorized into following types:

 

Registered Nurses

 

The registered nurses provide healthcare facilities to the public whenever needed, especially in critical times. Registered nurses perform physical examination, health promotion, counselling and education. These nurses administer medications and other personalized interventions too. 

 

Advanced Practice Registered Nurses

 

These nurses treat and diagnose illness. They also advise the public on health issues, in management of chronic diseases. They are directly or indirectly responsible for technological, methodological, or any other developments in the nursing sector.

 

(Recommended blog - AI in cancer detection and treatment)

 

Practice Specialist Roles

 

These are advanced practice registered nurses assigned with the special tasks. For example, nurses practitioners, certified nurses, clinical nurses, and certified anesthetists administers. They prescribe medication, diagnose, administer anaesthetics and treat minor illnesses and injuries.

 

Licensed Practical Nurses

 

Licensed practical nurses are also known as licensed vocational nurses. Nurses support the core health care team and  the entire system works under their supervision. They provide basic routine care and ensure the wellbeing of patients throughout the whole of the health care journey. They check the vital signs of health deterioration and improvement. They perform basic nursing functions and ensure patients' comfort.

 

(Reference blog -  types of nurses and their salaries)

 

 

What are the applications of AI in the nursing sector?

 

The major applications of artificial intelligence in the nursing sector are as follows:

 

1. In clinical applications the use of ai is increasing day by day. For example: AI technologies are used for the detection, diagnosis and for the management of various diseases like Cancer, Diabetes, Heart disease, Head lesions and psychiatry. 

 

(Related blog - Digital Health)

 

2. The use of artificial intelligence has delivered results in the fields like Pathology, Dermatology, Radiology. For example: the learning department is used by the AI department at Google; they can precisely detect the chances of patients survival, long term or re admission based on electronic health records of the patients.

 

3. The advancement in the research sector with the help of artificial intelligence is also increasing the electronic health records used in the research sector for the identification of diseases. So these techniques are used worldwide and improve medical science to a greater extent. 

 

4. Artificial intelligence has contributed in the field of nursing very positively. The use of artificial intelligence improves the healthcare sector. This technology is used in the management of nursing.

 

(Suggested blog - Emerging healthcare technologies 2022)

 

 

What are the advantages of AI in the nursing sector?

---

Advantages of AI in the nursing

---

AI has advantages in almost all spheres of life. Following are the advantages of AI in nursing:

 

1. Improved accessibility

 

Most of the countries which are in the developing phase keep struggling with the advancement in the global technology and these countries have limited number of healthcare facilities. The people who are living in such countries are at a higher risk of dying than the developed countries.

 

With the help of AI these areas can get access to good healthcare facilities. There are alot of applications which help the international and national organisation for the development in healthcare sector. 

 

 

2. Early diagnosis

 

Different types of AI tools which depend on the people's data to get the information about the patient history of the past diseases. 

 

(Related blog - AI in Clinical Trials)

 

After getting all the information or by studying the history of patients then the healthcare professionals diagnose the patient more accurately. Different types of data are provided which is further used in the treatment of various diseases. 

 

 

3. Increased speed and reduced costs

 

Healthcare processes are increasing day by day and the costs are also reduced. From examining the patient and after diagnosis of patients artificial intelligence has changed in terms of cost and speed. 

 

Different types of biomarkers can be identified by the artificial intelligence which suggests the diseases in our bodies. AI algorithms minimise the work involved in the different types of biomarkers. The innovation in the health sector improves patient health. 

 

 

4. Unique and Efficient assistance in surgery

 

AI development has taken a vast leap in different types of robotic applications. The same process is used in the case for machine learning implementation in surgery. 

 

There are different AI Surgical Systems that can execute very small movements with 100% accuracy rate. So this means we can do very complex operations efficiently with less risks of side effects like, blood loss, or pain. 

 

Before going under the knives, the patients are subjected to the antibacterial nanorobots to remove all the infection in the blood. The good part of AI-backed information is on the patient’s present situation, available to surgeons anytime. 

 

(Speaking of nanorobots, check our our blog on nanotechnology)

 

 

5. Human abilities and mental health support

 

The Robots are developed by the engineers which can now be used to assist patients along with the medical staff. For example the exoskeleton robots can help the paralyzed people to recover their mobility with little or no help from the caretakers. 

 

 

What are the limitations of AI in the nursing sector?

 

There are some limitations of AI in the nursing sector. Following are the fields where improvement is required.

 

1. Errors and Injuries

 

Artificial intelligence systems are more susceptible to errors which lead to injuries to the patients and can cause other problems too. For example- A patient can take the wrong drug with the artificial intelligence instruction and it can affect the patient's health in return. 

 

(Related blog - Myths of AI)

 

Sometimes the radiological scan can miss a tumor. The problem in the AI system can lead to various difficulties for the patients, and it could put the patients in serious problems.

 

2. Privacy Issues

 

Privacy is a very serious issue for the patient's data procurement. There are malicious hackers which can steal the patients information by hacking the system. 

 

The big sites like Google also face privacy issues so there is no one left who doesn't have such issues. 

 

3. Inequality and Discrimination

 

Normally the Artificial intelligence system is not biased. But sometimes it shows wrong results, like if we feed the patient's history details in the AI system then it may struggle to treat the patients accordingly. 

 

4. Professional reshuffling

 

The reshuffling is common in the healthcare system. The shift is reshuffled from time to time and the AI technology is completely implemented. 

 

(Suggested blog - Is AI a hype or a reality?)

 

 

A way forward

 

The main purpose of a nurse is to make the things easy and ready for each patient despite of any discrimination. While the sole motto of artificial intelligence is to make the tasks easy for everyone. AI in the nursing sector plays an important role and is expected to improve the overall scenario more in the coming times.