AI tools help nursing educators combat Louisiana’s growing healthcare staff shortage

As healthcare facilities face a worsening nurse shortage, nursing educators are turning to artificial intelligence and virtual simulations to enhance training for the next generation of nurses. Amy Hall, nursing dean at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University, is pioneering the use of AI tools in nursing education while balancing concerns about ethics and safety. This integration of technology represents a critical response to Louisiana‘s projected 42 percent nursing shortage by 2030, addressing both the educational challenges and the knowledge gap created by retiring experienced nurses.

The big picture: Louisiana faces a severe nursing workforce crisis with projected shortages reaching 42 percent by 2030, compounded by retirements and new graduates leaving the profession.

• The Louisiana Board of Regents forecasts a shortage of approximately 182 registered nurses by 2030, while national projections from the Health Resources and Service Administration predict a deficit of 78,000 full-time nurses in 2025.
• Many newer nurses are leaving the profession within their first two years after graduation, particularly following the stressful experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

How technology is helping: Nursing educators are implementing AI tools like Surepath AI to provide students with credible, trustworthy information backed by textbook citations.

• The AI system allows students to ask clinical questions such as “how to best manage a patient with hypertension” and receive evidence-based responses with direct links to verified source material.
• Faculty members use the tool to model appropriate professional use of AI, helping prevent students from accessing potentially unethical or unsafe practices from unverified AI sources.

What’s next: Beyond AI tools, nursing programs are exploring advanced virtual simulations that create realistic patient care scenarios.

• Modern virtual simulations have evolved significantly from the “clunky” versions of 10-15 years ago, now featuring voice recognition technology that allows students to speak directly to virtual patients.
• These programs offer a bank of virtual patients for students to assess, interview, and treat, though educators acknowledge they still don’t fully replace real patient interactions.

Why this matters: The nursing shortage threatens quality of care as hospitals struggle to maintain safe patient-to-nurse ratios.

• With fewer nurses available, healthcare professionals have less time to spend with each patient, potentially missing important information that comes from patient stories and conversations.
• The retirement of experienced nurses means healthcare is losing valuable practical knowledge that typically develops over years of bedside care, creating a significant knowledge gap.

Behind the numbers: The nursing shortage reflects both demographic shifts in the profession and challenges in training enough new nurses to replace retirees.

• Although nursing schools are graduating students, the number of new nurses isn’t keeping pace with retirements of older, experienced nurses.
• The profession is seeing fewer young people choosing nursing as a career, exacerbating the replacement challenges.