Nurses at 17 hospitals with Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare have ratified new contracts containing protections against artificial intelligence.
"New contract language will ensure nurses have a say in the implementation of new technology like artificial intelligence to ensure it enhances, not diminishes, patient care," National Nurses United said in an Oct. 22 statement.
Nurses have recently protested the growth of what they call "untested technology" such as healthcare AI that they say harms patient safety and takes clinicians out of the decision-making process. The three-year contracts in six states with HCA Healthcare mark a big step in gaining AI-related safeguards for nurses, as the health system is one of the country's largest nursing employers.
"We work closely with our doctors and nurses to identify and develop technologies to help improve workflows, reduce administrative burden and allow our caregivers to spend more time with their patients," an HCA spokesperson told Becker's. "We want clinicians focused on what they do best — taking care of patients. As a health system, we support our doctors and nurses by making sure they have timely and accurate information and the right care teams around them to provide the care our patients expect and deserve."