Will AI replace Registered Nurses?
AI reaches some of this job’s work, but most of it stays with people.
39/100
Moderate exposure
More exposed to AI than 63% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 5% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 60% of the work
What the job involves
Assess patient health problems and needs, develop and implement nursing care plans, and maintain medical records. Administer nursing care to ill, injured, convalescent, or disabled patients. May advise patients on health maintenance and disease prevention or provide case management. Licensing or registration required.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Already happening(1)
- Monitor, record, and report symptoms or changes in patients' conditions.
Within reach(14)
- Record patients' medical information and vital signs.
- Maintain accurate, detailed reports and records.
- Monitor all aspects of patient care, including diet and physical activity.
- Consult and coordinate with healthcare team members to assess, plan, implement, or evaluate patient care plans.
- Instruct individuals, families, or other groups on topics such as health education, disease prevention, or childbirth and develop health improvement programs.
and 9 more
Out of reach(12)
- Administer medications to patients and monitor patients for reactions or side effects.
- Prepare patients for and assist with examinations or treatments.
- Direct or supervise less-skilled nursing or healthcare personnel or supervise a particular unit.
- Conduct specified laboratory tests.
- Provide health care, first aid, immunizations, or assistance in convalescence or rehabilitation in locations such as schools, hospitals, or industry.
and 7 more
Also called
Registered Nurse (RN) · RN · Nurse · Public Health Nurse (PHN) · PHN · Oncology RN (Oncology Registered Nurse) · Community Health Nurse · Emergency Room Registered Nurse (ER RN)
Related jobs
What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics