Nursing/Care Work with Artificial Intelligence: Identifying Opportunities, Managing Risks
Digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly changing the world of work – including professional nursing and care. Systems that support decision-making, the monitoring of vital data, or documentation management promise to ease the burdens on staff and improve services. But what does the deployment of such technologies mean for the working situations and health of nursing/care staff?
AI can help to standardise work processes, make documentation management easier, and create more time for interpersonal attention. Professional nurses/carers report that the targeted deployment of digital technology makes them feel more competent - in particular if it is embedded in day-to-day work in ways that meet their needs.
At the same time, new stress factors are emerging. For example, nursing/care personnel report “technostress” and overstimulation due to the frequent false alarms these systems generate. In addition, there are uncertainties about how to deal with sensitive data and unclear lines of responsibility when decisions are based on recommendations from AI-supported systems. The concern that they might lose their expertise or autonomy worries many employees in everyday nursing/care work. Whether AI actually helps to reduce burdens or generates new and additional strains depends significantly on how it is introduced and integrated into practice.
Factoring in occupational safety and health - from the beginning
AI can meaningfully support nursing/care activities. If it is to be deployed successfully, occupational safety and health - and therefore criteria for human-centred work design - have to be factored in from the beginning when AI work systems are introduced in professional nursing/care settings. If possible, this should be done with the involvement of employees and draw on the perspectives of the nurses/carers who will be affected. From the point of view of occupational safety and health, three areas of action are central:
Organisation: clear “digital strategy”, employee participation, a culture that is conducive to learning
Workplace: integration of technology-induced risks into risk assessments, consideration of accessibility and training requirements
Team and individual: targeted training, practically relevant support in daily work, spaces for reflection and feedback
“baua: Aktuell” - Issue 2/2025Whether AI reduces work pressure or increases it depends on how it is integrated into everyday nursing/care work. Risks rooted in the organisation of employees’ work should be identified at an early stage and mitigated with technical and operational interventions. baua: Aktuell 2/2025, p. 8 (German)
Be mindful of ethical issues
The deployment of AI in nursing/care also touches on fundamental ethical issues: How will care recipients’ dignity be protected if robots penetrate intimate areas of life? Who will take decisions when systems give recommendations? The Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin, BAuA) is calling for those who design technology to take principles such as autonomy, justice, care, and the avoidance of harm seriously - while actively assimilating the perspectives of both nurses/carers and patients.
AI can support nursing/care work meaningfully - if it is well embedded technically, organisationally, and ethically. Occupational safety and health actors should oversee this evolution proactively to ensure nursing/care settings are characterised by healthy, humane working conditions in the digital age as well.
