Aim: The aim of this study is to explore the experiences and perceptions of final-year nursing students on the acceptability and feasibility of using a chatbot for clinical decision-making and patient safety.
Background: The effective and inclusive use of new technologies such as conversational agents or chatbots could support nurses in increasing evidence-based care and decreasing low-quality services.
Methods: A descriptive qualitative study was used through focus group interviews. The data analysis was conducted using a thematic analysis.
Results: This study included 114 participants. After our data analysis, two main themes emerged: (i) experiences in the use of a chatbot service for clinical decision-making and and (ii) integrating conversational agents into the organizational safety culture.
Conclusions: The findings of our study provide preliminary support for the acceptability and feasibility of adopting SafeBot, a chatbot for clinical decision-making and patient safety. Our results revealed substantial recommendations for refining navigation, layout and content, as well as useful insights to support its acceptance in real nursing practice.
Implications for nursing management: Leaders and managers may well see artificial intelligence-based conversational agents like SafeBot as a potential solution in modern nursing practice for effective problem-solving resolution, innovative staffing and nursing care delivery models at the bedside and criteria for measuring and ensure quality and patient safety.
Keywords: artificial intelligence; chatbot; evidence-based practice; nursing; patient safety.
© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Nursing Management published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.