(EFFECTS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ON THE FUTURE OF HEALTH: A QUALITATIVE STUDY EXAMPLE OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

To determine the opinions of university students about the effects of artificial intelligence on the future of nursing and healthcare.  Artificial intelligence-generated changes will have a major impact on healthcare management.  In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with university students. The study included 12 senior-level students’ participants, who were selected by simple random sampling from different departments of Turkish universities in Istanbul. Data were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis.  The participants defined artificial intelligence in terms of robots, robotized intelligence, machine learning and personal assistants. The participants listed the effects of artificial intelligence on nursing as a decrease in the number of nurses, a reduced workload for nurses, easier patient follow-up, a decreased margin of error, the use of robots for patient transport, the use of robots to position patients, the use of robots to measure vital signs, the use of robots in psychomotor skill training, use of robots in surgical operations, use of robots in elderly care and follow-up.  In line with these results, it can be recommended that new subjects on AI and its role in the future of healthcare be added to relevant education programs. Policymakers should be develop courses in the curriculum that will increase student awareness of health educators and managers’ researches about artificial intelligence.