Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated into nursing practice, education, research, leadership, and healthcare delivery. As AI-enabled technologies become more common across healthcare settings, nurses require the knowledge and skills to use these tools effectively, critically, and responsibly.

This course introduces nurses to the foundational concepts, applications, and implications of artificial intelligence in healthcare. Learners will explore how AI is being used across nursing practice, education, leadership, research, and healthcare delivery while developing practical skills in the use of generative AI and other emerging technologies. Through hands-on learning activities and real-world examples, participants will apply AI tools to support professional practice, critically evaluate AI-enabled technologies, and examine factors that influence their safe, equitable, and responsible use. Learners will also identify opportunities for AI to address nursing and healthcare challenges and develop a practical AI-enabled solution relevant to their area of practice.

By the end of the course, learners will be better equipped to use, assess, and contribute to the responsible integration of AI in nursing and healthcare settings.

Upon successful completion of this course, learners will be able to: 

• Explain foundational concepts and terminology related to AI and their relevance to nursing practice.
• Apply generative AI tools to support nursing practice, education, leadership, scholarship, and quality improvement activities.
• Examine factors that influence the safe, equitable, and responsible use of AI-enabled technologies in healthcare settings.
• Critically evaluate the opportunities, limitations, risks, and implications of AI-enabled technologies in nursing practice.
• Design and assess AI-enabled approaches to address nursing and healthcare challenges.

Learners complete a series of guided and immersive activities to understand what AI is and how AI-enabled tools can be used to support clinical processes. Learners submit selected examples of AI-enabled technologies and/or reported / published use cases along with brief reflections on the strengths, limitations, and potential implications of AI in nursing practice.

Learners select an AI-enabled technology relevant to nursing and critically evaluate its purpose, evidence base, potential benefits, limitations, risks, and implications for nursing practice.

Learners identify a nursing challenge (ideally from their own practice) and develop an AI-enabled solution (vibe coding) or application relevant to their area of practice. Learners present their project and describe the problem addressed, the role of AI, anticipated benefits, limitations, and considerations for implementation in practice.

• Introduction to AI in nursing practice
• Understanding Generative AI (GenAI) and Large Language Models (LLMs)
• Clinical and consumer AI tools for everyday nursing practice
• AI applications in nursing education, leadership, administration, research, and quality improvement.
• Ethical, professional, equity, privacy and sustainability considerations for AI in nursing practice
• Evaluating and assessing AI-enabled technologies in healthcare
• Prompt engineering and effective human-AI collaboration / teaming.
• AI for clinical decision support and healthcare innovation
• Vibe coding and AI-assisted prototype development
• Designing AI-enabled solutions for nursing challenges
• Implementing AI in healthcare organizations
• The future of AI in nursing practice

This course is designed for registered nurses, registered practical nurses, nurse practitioners, nurse educators, nurse leaders, and other nursing professionals interested in understanding and applying AI in nursing practice.

No prior experience with artificial intelligence, programming, or computer science is required.