Will nursing assistants be replaced by AI?
Updated
Nursing assistants score 16 of 100 for AI exposure. 68% of their task time still needs a person. AI speeds up the other 32%.
- 32% AI helps
- 68% Needs a person
Low exposure
Lower than 87% of the 923 occupations we scored.
Task by task
We graded 33 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can't do any of them end to end yet. It speeds up 11 and leaves 22 to people.
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Document or otherwise report observations of patient behavior, complaints, or physical symptoms to nurses. AI can draft charted observations from voice or notes. | 60% AI helps |
| Review patients' dietary restrictions, food allergies, and preferences to ensure patient receives appropriate diet. Cross checking diet orders and allergy records suits AI checks. | 55% AI helps |
| Measure and record food and liquid intake or urinary and fecal output, reporting changes to medical or nursing staff. Intake and output logging is partly digital; measuring stays physical. | 45% AI helps |
| Gather information from caregivers, nurses, or physicians about patient condition, treatment plans, or appropriate activities. Summarizing staff handoffs and care plans is text work AI aids. | 40% AI helps |
| Record vital signs, such as temperature, blood pressure, pulse, or respiration rate, as directed by medical or nursing staff. Vital sign taking is physical; recording to charts can be automated. | 35% AI helps |
| Provide information, such as directions, visiting hours, or patient status information to visitors or callers. Directions and visiting hours can be automated; status needs privacy checks. | 35% AI helps |
| Explain medical instructions to patients or family members. Drafting plain language instructions helps; delivering them stays human. | 35% AI helps |
| Stock or issue medical supplies, such as dressing packs or treatment trays. Stocking is physical, though inventory tracking and ordering can be automated. | 30% AI helps |
| Transport specimens, laboratory items, or pharmacy items, ensuring proper documentation and delivery to authorized personnel. Documentation and tracking can be automated; physical transport is not. | 25% AI helps |
| Remind patients to take medications or nutritional supplements. Reminders can be scheduled by software; delivery is in person. | 22% AI helps |
Show the other 23 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Record height or weight of patients. Weighing patients is physical; logging the reading is automatable. | 15% AI helps |
| Answer patient call signals, signal lights, bells, or intercom systems to determine patients' needs. Responding to call lights is in person; software only routes alerts. | 12% Needs a person |
| Restock patient rooms with personal hygiene items, such as towels, washcloths, soap, or toilet paper. Restocking supplies is physical; reorder requests could be automated. | 12% Needs a person |
| Communicate with patients to ascertain feelings or need for assistance or social and emotional support. Emotional support and needs assessment depend on live human rapport. | 10% Needs a person |
| Prepare or serve food trays. Tray assembly is partly routine but serving and feeding is physical. | 10% Needs a person |
| Observe or examine patients to detect symptoms that may require medical attention, such as bruises, open wounds, or blood in urine. Detecting bruises or wounds requires in person physical examination. | 8% Needs a person |
| Assist nurses or physicians in the operation of medical equipment or provision of patient care. Operating equipment beside clinicians is hands on, in person assistance. | 8% Needs a person |
| Set up treating or testing equipment, such as oxygen tents, portable radiograph (x-ray) equipment, or overhead irrigation bottles, as directed by a physician or nurse. Setting up equipment is hands on and follows direct instructions. | 8% Needs a person |
| Feed patients or assist patients to eat or drink. Feeding patients needs in person physical assistance. | 5% Needs a person |
| Clean and sanitize patient rooms, bathrooms, examination rooms, or other patient areas. Cleaning rooms is physical labor with minimal AI involvement. | 5% Needs a person |
| Collect specimens, such as urine, feces, or sputum. Specimen collection is hands on and needs physical presence. | 5% Needs a person |
| Provide physical support to assist patients to perform daily living activities, such as getting out of bed, bathing, dressing, using the toilet, standing, walking, or exercising. Physical help with mobility and daily activities is hands on work. | 4% Needs a person |
| Apply clean dressings, slings, stockings, or support bandages, under direction of nurse or physician. Applying dressings and bandages is hands on clinical care. | 4% Needs a person |
| Turn or reposition bedridden patients. Physical repositioning of bedridden patients requires hands on presence. | 3% Needs a person |
| Undress, wash, and dress patients who are unable to do so for themselves. Undressing, washing and dressing patients is intimate hands on care. | 3% Needs a person |
| Supply, collect, or empty bedpans. Emptying bedpans is hands on personal care with no AI role. | 3% Needs a person |
| Wash, groom, shave, or drape patients to prepare them for surgery, treatment, or examination. Washing, shaving and draping patients is hands on pre procedure care. | 3% Needs a person |
| Change bed linens or make beds. Bed making is physical work with no meaningful AI contribution. | 3% Needs a person |
| Exercise patients who are comatose, paralyzed, or have restricted mobility. Range of motion exercise for immobile patients is hands on therapy. | 3% Needs a person |
| Transport patients to treatment units, testing units, operating rooms, or other areas, using wheelchairs, stretchers, or moveable beds. Wheelchair and stretcher transport is physical and in person. | 3% Needs a person |
| Position or hold patients in position for surgical preparation. Positioning patients for surgery is physical and in person. | 3% Needs a person |
| Administer medications or treatments, such as catheterizations, suppositories, irrigations, enemas, massages, or douches, as directed by a physician or nurse. Medication and treatment administration is hands on clinical care. | 3% Needs a person |
| Lift or assist others to lift patients to move them on or off beds, examination tables, surgical tables, or stretchers. Lifting patients is physically demanding and requires human handling. | 2% Needs a person |
How nursing assistants compare
All occupations (923)
Healthcare support (19)
Pay and outlook in the US
- Median pay
- $42,260 a year, May 2025
- People employed
- 1.4 million in the US, May 2025
- Projected change in jobs
- +2.6% from 2024 to 2034
Skills to build
- Chart patient observations accurately in Epic Systems
- Record vital signs in MEDITECH software
- Hold a state Certified Nursing Assistant credential
- Measure and log intake and output at the bedside
- Transfer patients safely with mechanical lifts and slide sheets
- Write shift handoff notes for charge nurses in Microsoft Word
Safer roles nearby
2 related occupations with lower scores.
Questions about nursing assistants and AI
Will AI replace nursing assistants?
Partly. About 2 in 10 of a nursing assistant's working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly charting patient observations and checking diet orders against allergy records. Bathing, lifting, and turning patients stay with people because they need hands on the body and a person in the room.
Which nursing assistant tasks is AI taking over?
Charting observations of patient behavior, complaints, or symptoms carries an AI exposure score of 60, the highest for this job. AI can draft those notes from voice or handwritten entries. Checking diet orders against allergy records scores 55, since AI can cross check both lists in seconds.
Which nursing assistant tasks stay human?
Lifting patients, turning bedridden patients, emptying bedpans, and making beds each score 2 or 3 on AI exposure. Each task needs hands on a body or a physical bed, so the work stays with nursing assistants. Undressing, washing, and dressing patients scores 3 for the same reason.
How can nursing assistants stay valuable as AI spreads?
Learn the charting screens in Epic Systems or MEDITECH so you can spot gaps in the observations you enter. Keep hands on skills sharp, since lifting and bathing are where AI adds little. Hold your state nursing assistant certification current, and record intake and output carefully so the nurse who reviews it trusts your numbers.
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