Nursing students' attitudes and literacy toward artificial intelligence: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

• It is essential to comprehend the attitudes and AI literacy levels of nursing students for future integration into nursing. • The positive attitudes toward AI were associated with awareness, usage, evaluation, and overall AI literacy scores. • There is still some confusion about the ethical perspectives of AI in healthcare despite AI-related education. • Strengthening AI literacy can foster positive attitudes while increasing awareness and use reduces negative attitudes. Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly important in healthcare. New nurses need to develop digital literacy skills to adapt to high-tech healthcare environments. AI is transforming nursing practice, improving decision-making, patient outcomes, and workflows. It's important to assess nursing students' skills and attitudes towards AI before they take patient care responsibilities. This study aims to evaluate nursing students' attitudes and literacy levels related to AI. With AI becoming more prevalent in healthcare, it's important to understand how prepared nursing students are to use AI technologies effectively in clinical practice. A descriptive, correlational, and cross-sectional research design was used. This study was conducted with 205 undergraduate nursing students studying at a private foundational university in Turkey. The data collection process started on 4 May 2024 and ended on 4 June 2024. Data for this study was collected through the Participant Introduction Form, the Artificial Intelligence Literacy Scale (AILS), and the General Attitudes Towards Artificial Intelligence Scale (GAAIS). We used Student's t-test and ANOVA. Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess the relationship between age, GAAIS, and AILS. Out of the 205 undergraduate nursing students who participated in the study, 87.8% were female. Male students had significantly higher Positive GAAIS scores compared to female students. Students who had previous education about AI scored higher in AI awareness, usage, and evaluation as well as the total AILS scale scores (p < 0.05). There was a positive correlation between positive GAAIS and the subdimensions of awareness (p < 0.001), AI usage (p < 0.001), AI evaluation (p < 0.001), and total AILS (p < 0.001) scores. In addition, as the total AILS score increased, negative GAAIS scores decreased (p < 0.05). This study suggests that enhancing AI literacy among nursing students fosters more positive attitudes toward AI while increasing AI awareness and usage reduces negative attitudes. These findings highlight the need for integrating AI education into nursing curricula to better prepare students for the evolving healthcare landscape.

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