Creating a Climate of Safety: Preparing Nursing Students for Responsible Artificial Intelligence Use

Safety is the foundation of high-quality, effective, and efficient health care, requiring intentional dedication from organizations, leaders, educators, providers, and patients alike. The increasing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into health care settings is outpacing the development of structured safety education designed for its use. As AI tools become increasingly embedded in diagnosis, documentation, and clinical decision-making, a climate of safety must extend to encompass the unique risks these technologies introduce, including algorithmic biases, data privacy vulnerabilities, and the possible erosion of clinical judgment through overreliance on machine-generated outputs. Equally essential is the promotion of workplace wellbeing, which recognizes that patient, student, and health care worker safety are inseparable. Literacy of AI and competency training must be positioned not as peripheral technical skills but as a core safety imperative. Nurses must be equipped to critically evaluate AI-generated reports before applying the information to patient care and to supervise AI-integrated tools before trusting them in clinical decision-making processes. Without dedicated AI-specific education woven into the existing curriculum, health care systems risk introducing novel sources of harm even as they pursue the efficiency and innovation that AI promises. This paper highlights the purposeful integration of a stand-alone AI course into pre-licensure nursing curricula to ensure a commitment to cultivating a climate of safety among nursing students.