Human Touch in a Digital Age

Guiding Healthcare Principles for Nurses and Patients in the Rise of A.I.

As future healthcare professionals, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the accelerating presence of artificial intelligence in patient care. AI tools promise efficiency, predictive insights, and innovations that seem almost magical. In fact, AI has shown great promise in healthcare by enhancing diagnostic accuracy in areas like radiology, streamlining administrative tasks, and supporting early disease detection - freeing up clinicians to focus more on direct patient care. Even personally, as someone who’s a huge proponent of tech innovation and AI, I believe these tools can be powerful allies in improving healthcare outcomes when used responsibly and ethically. But amid the excitement, we need to pause and ask: At what cost to human connection, clinical judgment, and the core of compassionate care?

The Nurses and Patients’ Bill of Rights, released by National Nurses United, calls attention to this exact concern - and I believe it’s a conversation every nurse and aspiring nurse must be part of.

💡 From A Nurse’s Perspective: Some Things Should Never Be Automated

There’s something sacred about bedside care. It’s the gentle reassurance we give when a patient is scared. The intuition we develop through experience. The way we notice subtle changes in someone’s condition that no algorithm could ever quantify.

As stated in the document:

“We know that the hands-on work of caring for other people cannot and should not ever be automated.”

That truth resonates deeply with me. Health care must be provided in person. AI may support, but it should never replace the human expertise, emotional intelligence, and ethical discernment that nurses bring to every patient encounter.

⚕️ Guiding Principles: A Call for Ethical Guardrails in Health Tech

Here’s what the Nurses and Patients' Bill of Rights outlines - and why it matters for both nurses and patients:

1. The Right to High-Quality, In-Person Care

No technology should ever deskill or displace nurses. When patient care is reduced to data points and shortcuts, we lose the richness and safety of hands-on, person-centered care.

2. The Right to Safety

Staffing shortages cannot be “solved” by AI. Only people - trained, caring professionals - can ensure the levels of attentiveness and care that save lives.

3. The Right to Privacy

Informed consent must be non-negotiable. Patients (and nurses!) have a right to control how their personal data is used, and that data should never become a commodity for employers to profit from.

4. The Right to Transparency

What information is being collected? Why? Where is it stored? Who has access? Patients, clinicians, and advocates deserve to know—and to understand the reasoning behind AI-generated recommendations, especially with generative tools like large language models.

5. The Right to Professional Judgment

Nurses must always have the autonomy to override AI if it conflicts with their clinical expertise or the needs of their patient. We are not just operators of machines—we are caregivers with critical thinking, compassion, and responsibility.

6. The Right to Autonomy

Participation in AI-driven systems - especially those involving data collection - should always be optional and fully informed.

7. The Right to Collective Advocacy

Healthcare workers must retain the power to advocate together—for our patients, for our colleagues, and for ethical, safe, and equitable care.

🌱 What This Means for Us

As a nursing assistant and future nurse, I’m both inspired and challenged by the rapid integration of technology in health care. I believe we can harness the benefits of AI without compromising what makes nursing a sacred vocation: our ability to connect, to notice, to heal, and to care.

Wellness in healthcare isn’t just about optimizing data or streamlining outcomes - it’s about preserving the heart of care. The guiding principles of National Nurses United reminds us that even in the face of innovation, we have the power to stand up for dignity, privacy, and human presence.

Let’s not forget: to live well means to be seen, heard, and cared for - by real people.

📖 Want to learn more about this? Read the full document here: Nurses and Patients’ Bill of Rights (PDF)

🫶 If this resonates with you, I’d love to hear your thoughts. How do you feel about the role of AI in nursing and healthcare? What’s necessary to protect in our profession?

natassja.a.nowak@vanderbilt.edu