Can AI help us in the hospital?

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In mid-2023, the author of the Palate and Pabulum blog began implementing recommendations from technology experts regarding the functionality of AI platforms. The usability and accessibility of AI language learning apps are increasingly gaining traction. As a healthcare provider, the author became aware of these applications through a website called Recomendo, created by the original editors of the well-known magazine Wired. Recomendo distills technology-related information and shares it for free.

Now more than ever, the AI revolution is upon us, leading to a distinction between early and late adopters. The academic community actively explores artificial intelligence applications across various disciplines, and the healthcare service industry is no exception. The following essay and dialogues aim to draw on academic literature as source material for the following blog post. A keyword search in CINAHL using "AI" and "nurse*" was conducted to surface relevant articles. The selected articles were chosen randomly based on titles that included "AI," "artificial intelligence," and "nurse."

Scholars have identified that advances in computer technologies, such as artificial intelligence modalities, can affect patient care by enhancing services and offering best practices (Wangpitipanit et al., 2024). One of the diverse ways that AI has been able to differentiate itself, for example, from a general online Google search, is that some of the platforms' methods do not just offer up random facts of knowledge; instead, these applications can first and foremost analyze questions when submitted, integrate, and organize prototypal insights for the user.

Additionally, others have reported that AI can be used as an adjunct to trusted research databases. For example, Epstein (2024), a healthcare informationist, has discussed that nurses often need information from trusted academic sources such as CINAHL, a standard library index of evidence-based literature for allied healthcare professionals and registered nurses, and the upcoming surge of significant language computational programs can assist those seeking knowledge to help them distill queries when searching for evidence-based literature to inform best practices when delivering care to patients.

Without question, more scholars have added to the knowledge available for artificial intelligence capabilities in healthcare. Ronquillo et al. (2021) have noted that the applications for AI's reach will address tasks and activities requiring little to no reasoning or contemplation, such as resupplying medications when electronic dispensers need refilling or using robot-assisted notifications when rooms need cleaning after a patient has been discharged automatically freeing up time for nurses. What is more, the scholars pointedly acknowledge, as to be expected, that the use of AI platforms can help nurses strategically gather information regarding their patients and that education on these technologies is paramount to continuing education as they evolve and become visible in healthcare delivery (Ronquillo et al., 2021).

References:

Epstein, Helen-Ann B. (2024). Suggestions from experience and AI tools to teach evidence-based practice to nurses. Medical Reference Services Quarterly, 43(1), 59-71. https://doi.org/10.1080/02763869.2024.2289335

Ronquillo, C. E., Peltonen, L., Pruinelli, L., Chu, C. H., Bakken, S., Beduschi, A., Cato, K., Hardiker, N., Junger, A., Michalowski, M., Nyrup, R., Rahimi, S., Reed, D. N., Salakoski, T., Salanterä, S., Walton, N., Weber, P., Wiegand, T., & Topaz, M. (2021). Artificial Intelligence in Nursing: Priorities and Opportunities from an international invitational think‐tank of the Nursing and Artificial Intelligence Leadership Collaborative. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 77(9), 3707–3717. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14855

Wangpitipanit, S., Lininger, J., & Anderson, N. (2024). Exploring the deep learning of Artificial Intelligence in nursing: A concept analysis with Walker and Avant's approach. BMC Nursing, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-02170-x