How Nursing Students Can Use AI Tools Ethically
By Julie Kientz Elting
It ’ s been more than a year since ChatGPT — that is , Chat Generative Pre- Trained Transformer — became the next thing to challenge nursing education and “ the way we always do it ” mindset . Like any new technology , it takes time and energy to understand the best way to blend the old and new . ( Ask your faculty about the first time they charted in an electronic medical record [ EMR ] system .) The primary concern was the impact of artificial intelligence ( AI ) text generators , like ChatGPT and Google ’ s Gemini ( formerly Bard ), on student writing . Because they generate original content , it can disrupt the traditional value of assignments that evaluate student learning through writing .
This topic was discussed in the Ethics and Governance session at the NSNA 71st Annual Convention in April 2023 , where 100 % of the student attendees believed that faculty should be concerned .
This potential misuse of AI tools is a real and important part of the conversation that is ongoing , but it overshadows the countless opportunities offered by AI for nursing students . Separating the risks and opportunities of these AI tools allows both faculty and students to confidently move forward .
AI Tool Risks
Let ’ s look at the risks first . It should be clear that it is dishonest for students to submit content written by AI tools as their own work . Students already know not to copy content from other sources like journal articles or websites ; that is plagiarism . As a nursing faculty member , I meet with students who plagiarized on an assignment . They often tell me they believe the same thing as the original author or that the writing is so much better than what the student could create .
But students need to understand the purpose of academic writing isn ’ t just to type the “ right ” words on a page . Assignments — such as , papers , discussion boards , and care plans — are designed to challenge students to think critically about a topic , to structure their thoughts , and creatively solve problems .
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