Workforce sustainability is a defining concern
Across findings, workforce-related challenges emerge as a consistent theme for nurses. More than eight in 10 nurses (81%) say recruiting and attracting talent will impact their organization over the next three years (up from 69% in 2025), in addition to 74% noting retention as a top trend. At the same time, only 60% of nurses express confidence that their organizations are prepared to address nurse shortages. These findings underscore an ongoing concern about whether healthcare systems have the workforce needed to meet future patient demand.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom -- there are notable improvements in outlook compared to last year with respect to recruitment and retention. In 2026, 72% feel their organization is prepared for recruiting and retaining health professional staff and 72% feel the same regarding medical staff, compared to 62% and 55% respectively in 2025. These spikes in confidence offer a glimmer of hope that technology is having its intended impact on alleviating pressures that can lead to workforce burnout and turnover.
Health AI to solve administrative burdens, not clinical ones (yet)
The data reveal that nurses are increasingly optimistic about AI’s value for healthcare organizations, and that nurses are eager to embrace this technology. Nurses largely feel their organization is prepared to use AI for:
- Improving administrative productivity (65%, up from 53% in 2025)
- Improving service to patients (64%, up from 38% in 2025)
- Improving patient experience (65%, up from 51% in 2025)
- Ambient listening (60%, up from 45% in 2025)
- Supporting patient diagnosis or treatment (60%, up from 42% in 2025)
Our first Future Ready Healthcare report on AI and the Clinician Experience offered a glimpse into the ways in which nurses are embracing this technology. Nearly one-third (32%) of nurses surveyed report using AI multiple times per day at work, representing a 100% increase from the previous year's survey (16% in 2025). They’re also seeing strong organizational support for AI, with 80% of nurses saying their organizations expect usage of GenAI by nursing and medical staff as a top trend for the next three years (up from 65% in 2025). This is complemented by growing confidence in nurses’ views on AI governance; while 49% believed a lack of regulations and standards was a top risk in 2025, that number decreased to 34% in 2026. This progress will serve as a foundation for AI expansion and use in other areas of healthcare.
The data found that nurses are adopting AI inside the care workflow, not just “on the side”:
- 43% use AI to summarize medical literature or analyze data
- 41% use AI to generate patient education materials
- 37% use AI to check drug interactions
- 32% use AI to help communicate with non-English-speaking patients
- 29% use AI to draft shift handoffs, discharge summaries, or nursing notes
- 29% use AI to support training for newer nurses
- 22% use AI to predict patient flow or manage staffing schedules
As nurses rapidly adopt AI technology, they’re not using it as a replacement for clinical expertise. Rather, they are leveraging AI to reduce administrative burden that gives back time to focus on patient care, as well as improve patient communication and support education. While using it to direct clinical care is not a focus within this group today, nurses are increasingly exploring and reviewing the ways in which it can do so in the future.
Redefining patient education and communication
Nurses are increasingly focused on helping patients understand and navigate healthcare, and the ways they’re leveraging technology supports this. Nursing staff often serve as the bridge between clinical information and patient understanding. They play a critical role in translating complex medical concepts into guidance that patients and families can trust and act on.
In addition to the ways in which nurses are already using AI for patient communication and education, when asked where nurses will use AI over the next 12 months:
- 41% said telehealth
- 41% said AI powered patient education
- 36% said generating patient education materials
- 28% said patient communication & outreach (e.g. personalized care reminders or post-discharge follow-ups)
Nurses report interest in tools and approaches that support patient education, communication and health literacy. These findings reflect a broader challenge facing healthcare today, where patients have unprecedented access to information, yet understanding that information remains difficult. Clinical complexity, new treatment options, and growing volumes of health data can create confusion and uncertainty. Nurses have long served as educators and communicators for patients, so the ability to translate medical knowledge into clear, accessible information is a critical component of care delivery for nursing staff. Patient education is one of the most significant and underrated means of preventing and addressing readmission rates, making this an impactful use case for AI.
For healthcare organizations seeking to improve engagement, adherence, and patient outcomes, supporting nurses in this educational role is as important as investing in new clinical technologies themselves.
A roadmap for innovation
Together, these findings reveal that nurses take a pragmatic approach to innovation. They evaluate new solutions based on whether they address real-world challenges, improve workflows, and support patient care. The technologies most likely to gain traction are those that reduce administrative burden, improve efficiency, and create measurable value for both clinicians and patients.
Technology will continue to evolve, and its role in care delivery will undoubtedly expand. But lasting progress will depend on how well organizations support the clinicians who deliver care every day. Nurses are embracing innovation, but they are doing so with a clear purpose: to improve patient outcomes, strengthen communication, reduce inefficiencies and create more sustainable care environments.
For nursing leaders and health system leaders alike, these results demonstrate that the technologies most likely to gain traction among nursing staff are those that solve their everyday problems, reduce administrative burdens and create measurable value for both clinicians and patients. Moreover, the most future-ready organizations will be those that recognize innovation and workforce support are not competing priorities. They are inseparable components of delivering high-quality care in an increasingly complex healthcare landscape.
