Artificial intelligence attitudes and nursing values: Ethical sensitivity gap
Digital Health, cilt.12, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, SSCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 12
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1177/20552076261483888
- Dergi Adı: Digital Health
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Directory of Open Access Journals, Health Research Premium Collection (ProQuest)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: artificial intelligence, ethical implications, moral sensitivity, professional nursing values, surgical nurses
- Maltepe Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between surgical nurses’ attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI), their ethical sensitivity, and professional nursing values, and to explore these relationships in depth through an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design. Methods: An exploratory sequential mixed-methods design was employed, in which a qualitative phase was conducted first and its findings informed the subsequent quantitative phase. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 surgical nurses and analyzed thematically. In the quantitative phase, 316 surgical nurses working in surgical wards, operating rooms, and surgical intensive care units across public, private, and university hospitals completed the Artificial Intelligence Attitude Scale, the Professional Nursing Values Scale, and the Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using correlation, regression, and mediation and moderation analyses, and the two strands were integrated through a joint display. Results: Nurses demonstrated moderately positive attitudes toward AI, high professional nursing values, and moderate moral sensitivity. A weak but significant positive association was found between AI attitudes and professional values (r = 0.209, p < 0.001), whereas no significant association was observed with moral sensitivity (r = 0.012, p = 0.834). Regression analysis showed that AI attitudes were positively associated with professional values (β = 0.209, R2 = 0.044), while no significant predictive, mediating, or moderating effects were identified for moral sensitivity. Qualitative themes highlighted the perceived benefits of AI for clinical decision-making alongside concerns about empathy, patient privacy, and human oversight. Conclusion: A weak positive association was observed between attitudes toward AI and professional nursing values; because the design was cross-sectional, causality cannot be inferred. The absence of a significant association with ethical sensitivity does not establish independence and may reflect measurement or statistical power. Integrating AI into nursing practice should therefore be supported by ethical education and human-centered approaches to preserve core nursing values.