Nurses take CPR courses every two years. Why not AI courses too?

Imagine starting your shift knowing AI tools could help you work faster, reduce errors, and improve patient care — yet no one has ever taught you how to use them. This is the reality for most of the nearly 4.7 million licensed nurses in the United States, where only a small share have received formal training in artificial intelligence or digital health technology. The stakes are high. Preventable medical errors cost the U.S. healthcare system an estimated 17 to 29 billion dollars each year and contribute to 44,000 to 98,000 deaths annually. Nurse turnover, costing hospitals an average of $61,110 per nurse, adds further strain to a system already stretched thin. The time where AI literacy is a niche skill is over. It is now a core competency for delivering safe, efficient, and cost-effective care.

While many published articles agree that nurse education on AI is needed, none have proposed clear action steps for making it happen. Current solutions are scarce, expensive, inconsistent, and optional. Without a baseline standard, nurses (especially in rural or under-resourced communities) risk being left behind while other stakeholders set the direction for healthcare technology. This proposal outlines a practical, financially aligned policy to close that gap and ensure every nurse can competently use the tools shaping modern care.

A self-sustaining and practical policy solution

While a federal policy is ideal, let's be honest, it doesn’t move fast enough. Instead, we propose State Boards of Nursing to require three to five hours of AI and digital literacy continuing education for license renewal. Funding would come from reallocating a small fraction of existing license fees and/or pooling sponsorships from vetted technology companies. Curriculum development and review would remain under independent nursing and academic organizations to ensure neutrality and protect against marketing influence.

What’s in it for Big Tech?

For technology companies, supporting nurse AI literacy is a strategic investment. A workforce fluent in AI tools adopts them more effectively, integrates them seamlessly into workflows, and uses them to their full potential. This reduces vendors’ training costs, accelerates implementation, and increases product value for health systems. Sponsoring unbiased, standardized education also positions companies as ethical leaders in healthcare innovation.

RN Forward’s policy proposal turns evidence into action

While research supports integrating AI literacy into nursing education, none propose linking it to licensure renewal or funding it through a vendor-neutral, multi-sponsor model. Hoelscher (2025) outlines a practical AI literacy framework, but does not connect it to regulatory requirements. The ANA Position Statement (2022) emphasizes the need for ethical AI adoption, yet stops short of recommending a mandated, universally accessible curriculum. Vendor-provided education exists but is often product-specific and not scalable. This policy closes that gap by creating a standardized, independent program that is mandatory, cost-neutral for nurses, and sustainable for the long term.

Money-wise, it can save healthcare billions

Poor technology adoption wastes millions annually in unused systems, retraining, and inefficiencies. National modeling estimates that effective use of health information technology could save up to $81 billion annually. Hospitals using AI-powered predictive analytics have shortened average patient stays by 0.67 days, generating 55 to 72 million dollars in annual savings. In Mayo Clinic’s 2024 nursing AI pilot, an AI-assisted in-basket messaging tool saved nurses an average of 30 seconds per message, with 87% of messages starting from AI drafts—equivalent to $1.6–$2.7 million in recovered nursing capacity annually without adding staff. Targeted nurse training further boosts ROI through improved retention, fewer errors, and higher productivity.

With AI literacy as a licensing standard, every nurse could help deliver these results, creating fewer errors, better outcomes, stronger reimbursement scores, and healthier bottom lines.

To all the naysayers out there

Some may argue mandatory continuing education is burdensome and does not always improve practice. This training is targeted, high-impact, and directly aligned with the technology nurses already encounter in the workplace. Concerns about added costs are addressed by a funding model that is free at the point of use for nurses. Bias from tech company sponsorship is mitigated by independent curriculum control and multi-sponsor participation. And while nurses are overextended, training that saves time and improves confidence is an investment in reducing, not adding to, workload pressure.

We see a future where AI literacy saves lives

If CPR certification is mandatory because it saves lives, AI literacy in 2025 should be treated the same way. This policy is achievable, cost-neutral, and beneficial to every stakeholder. With it, we can envision a future where every nurse is empowered to lead in technology-driven care, confidently using AI to prevent errors, streamline workflows, and deliver safer, more personalized care. In that future, patients, providers, and health systems all benefit from a workforce that is both clinically and technologically fluent.

Nursing will become a profession ready to meet the challenges of modern healthcare head-on.