Available online 25 October 2025, 104591

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As artificial intelligence (AI) transforms healthcare, nurse educators are at a critical juncture. Technologies like clinical decision support tools and automated triage systems are accelerating workflows and reshaping patient care (Badawy et al., 2025, Wang et al., 2023). Yet, prelicensure nursing education still emphasizes documentation efficiency and digital compliance, which often overlooks the ethical and relational aspects of technologies like AI. While documentation and compliance remain

Artificial Intelligence as Collaborator

To lead in digital transformation, nurse leaders must be fluent not only in using AI but in understanding and shaping its development. This understanding includes questioning how AI systems are built, who benefits, what biases exist, and how AI can enhance, rather than erode, person-centered care. While AACN 2021 Essentials locate this knowledge in graduate education, we’ve found that many students entering nursing from other fields are ready for higher-level engagement.

Early planning revealed

Reclaiming Design as a Nursing Strength

In health care, design is defined as a structured process of problem framing, ideation, and prototyping to improve systems, experiences, and outcomes (Bannon et al., 2018). In nursing, similar activities are typically described as ‘planning’ within the nursing process or as care coordination. While the terminology may differ, the underlying practices (i.e., crafting individualized care plans, shaping communication strategies, and structuring healing environments) are inherently design oriented.

Designing with Purpose: Emerging Lessons from the Pilot

Although the enrichment pilot is still in the early launch stage, important insights are beginning to emerge. This pilot employs reflection-based evaluation methods, such as narrative journaling and project showcases, to assess students' ability to articulate ethical dilemmas, prototype collaborative solutions, and connect digital experiences to core nursing values. These approaches also allow faculty to explore how participation shapes students’ confidence, professional voice, and ethical

The Future Is a Shared Conversation

Artificial intelligence is no longer a hypothetical threat or a distant possibility in health care; it is already shaping workflows, decisions, and professional assumptions in nursing practice. The question is not whether to engage, but how and on whose terms. In this moment of constant transformation, nurturing curiosity, ethical clarity, and AI fluency in our students is a priority for future-ready nursing education. Through participatory design, narrative inquiry, and interdisciplinary

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