Nurse practitioners are playing an increasingly important role in the delivery of health care. They are essential members of the healthcare team. The future of the nurse practitioner profession is bright and rapid technological developments are a major reason for this.
To learn more, we recently spoke with Stephen A. Ferrara, DNP, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and associate dean for artificial intelligence in the AI department at Columbia University School of Nursing.
Ferrara gave his opinion on the ongoing evolution of nursing informatics, now and in the years to come. And, as an example, he described an innovative new AI project he is pursuing at Columbia
Q. What does the future of the nursing profession look like and what role will technology play?
A. The future of the nurse practitioner profession is bright and is continually evolving to meet the demand for high-quality, patient-centered healthcare. Patients, policymakers, and the healthcare system rightly embrace the profession as essential to increasing access to care. With an aging population and increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, the demand for NPs will continue to grow.
In most states, nurses are now fully licensed to practice. This gives patients a choice of health care providers and allows nurses to diagnose, treat, and prescribe medications under exclusive license from the state board of nursing.
This trend toward licensing modernization will continue, empowering nurses to improve patient outcomes, access to care, and relieve the burden on our overburdened healthcare system by providing patients with timely and efficient care.
This is a pivotal moment for technology in healthcare. Technology has the power to improve the delivery of patient care and the efficiency of our healthcare system, and NPs will be at the forefront of integrating these innovations into effective healthcare practices. The integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning in healthcare is happening in real time.
AI can help nurses and other healthcare providers not only synthesize large amounts of patient data from wearable devices and other sources, but also quickly synthesize large amounts of patient data from wearable devices and other sources. It also helps quickly diagnose diseases and recognize disease progression.
We believe that AI can enable healthcare professionals in the near future to spend more time interacting with patients and less time typing, clicking and looking at computer screens.
Telecare will will become increasingly important, allowing NPs to serve geographically dispersed patients who lack adequate access to care. In addition, NPs will use data from patient wearable devices, other remote patient monitoring tools, and AI to track patients and help them manage their health conditions.
Despite the many challenges facing our healthcare system, the future will offer NPs exciting new opportunities to improve patient care. As we look to the future, the profession is poised to embrace and lead the use of new technologies to enhance the delivery of high-quality care.
Q. You are working on an AI project at Columbia University School of Nursing. Tell us about the technology and the goals of your project.
A. On July 1, I assumed a new role at Columbia University School of Nursing as associate dean for artificial intelligence, in the newly created Office of AI. The office will officially launch in fall 2024 and will use AI to advance the school’s pillars of education, research, and clinical practice, along with operational excellence.
My role is to amplify the work of research faculty who have already produced groundbreaking results using AI technology, prepare our faculty to use AI to improve NP education and patient care, and enable the NP profession to use AI in their practice. We are proud to launch this work and build on Columbia’s longstanding and robust portfolio of technology leadership. A fall symposium is planned to delve deeper into AI and nursing.
I have devised a strategic plan for the office that involves surveying faculty and staff to assess their knowledge of AI and their readiness to integrate AI into their work. I will use the survey findings to develop educational sessions and workshops to prepare our teams. Additionally, an AI Advisory Group will be formed to create cohesive policies and provide guidance on the effective use of AI for education and clinical practice.
AI is becoming increasingly important and we want our nurses to be proficient in this technology from the start so they can create innovative solutions for our patients.
Q. What do you think the further evolution of nursing informatics will look like in the coming years?
A. As more health systems embrace digital technologies, nursing informatics will prove essential to effectively manage and analyze health data to improve patient care in all settings.
With the support of interdisciplinary teams of nurse informaticians, engineers, data scientists, and others, there is tremendous potential to extract critical insights from vast amounts of data. This will enable NPs and other healthcare professionals to identify trends, predict likely patient outcomes, and inform clinical decision-making.
Nursing informatics will also contribute to the further expansion of telehealth and remote patient monitoring by ensuring that telecommunication technologies are effectively integrated into clinical workflows, protecting the security and privacy of patient data, and training healthcare staff in the use of these tools.
Wearable devices and mobile health applications generate continuous streams of health data, which need to be efficiently managed and analyzed to provide effective interventions. The unprecedented amount of data we have today requires AI assistance in interpretation.
We believe that informatics will support a proactive approach and more preventive care. This is essential for the care provided by nurses. Furthermore, it can reduce hospital readmissions and improve the management of chronic diseases.
Nursing informatics tools not only empower NPs, they also put patients in the driver’s seat of their health. NPs use patient portals, mobile apps, and other technologies to engage patients, educate them about their conditions, and encourage them to adhere to treatment plans.
NPs play a critical role in leveraging informatics to improve clinical practice, enhance patient outcomes, and navigate the complexities of the digital health environment. Technology holds the promise of enabling us to achieve the Quintuple Aim: improving population health, enhancing the care experience, reducing costs, reducing clinician burnout, and advancing health equity.
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