Will AI replace registered nurses?

Not replace, but it is changing the job. About 53m of an 8-hour shift goes to tasks touched by AI working on its own. The other 7h 7m (89%) stays with people. Separately, BLS expects about 5.6% more of these jobs by 2035 (all jobs: +3.5%).

AI shows up regularly in 1 of 27 tasks, about 53m of a typical shift. The biggest ones:

• Monitor, record, and report symptoms or changes in patients' conditions. (53m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)

Not in workplaces like this one, based on a 2026 review of robot deployments. 1 more task has only been done in factory setups built around the machine, so it stays with people here. For 8 physical tasks, no robot has shown it can do the work yet.

7h 7m of a typical shift, or 89%, goes to tasks with no AI or robot evidence yet. The biggest:

• Administer medications to patients and monitor patients for reactions or side effects. (1h 12m a shift)
• Maintain accurate, detailed reports and records. (59m a shift)
• Record patients' medical information and vital signs. (46m a shift)
• Consult and coordinate with healthcare team members to assess, plan, implement, or evaluate patient care plans. (39m a shift)
• Provide health care, first aid, immunizations, or assistance in convalescence or rehabilitation in locations such as schools, hospitals, or industry. (33m a shift)

We track 3 sourced company moves that affect this job. Most recent:

• Aug 17, 2026: Diligent's Moxi hospital robot is in more than 25 U.S. hospitals (Rolling out)
• Apr 20, 2026: Hippocratic AI launches voice assistant for inpatient nurses (Pilot)
• Apr 14, 2026: AI scribe saves a Mercy nurse two hours of charting a shift (Rolling out)

The median pay is about $97,550 a year ($46.90 an hour), 91% above the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Source: BLS, May 2025.

BLS projects growth of 5.6% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% growth for all jobs. That's about 3.7 million jobs in 2035. It expects about 181,000 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. These projections don't single out AI as a cause.

About 3.4 million people in the U.S., roughly 2.2% of all workers (BLS, May 2025).

Bachelor's degree. O*NET rates this job at level 4 of 5 for preparation.

Based on official skill ratings and the tasks that stay with people:

• Skills that matter more here than in most jobs: Coordination, Social Perceptiveness, Service Orientation, Judgment and Decision Making
• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 7h 7m of a typical shift
• Tools employers list: Apache Spark, eClinicalWorks EHR software, Epic Systems, Google Docs, Henry Schein Dentrix
• Learn to use AI well on the tasks where it already shows up in this job (listed above)

These use similar skills, with less of a typical shift touched by AI or robots:

• Acute Care Nurses (12m touched, $98k median pay)
• Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses (0m touched, $64k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 1 observed in real AI use, 26 with no AI or robot evidence found. The minutes per task are estimates, not measured hours, and "no evidence" doesn't prove a task is safe.