Proposed Oregon legislation blocks AI tools from using ‘nurse’ title

Editor's Note

Oregon lawmakers are advancing legislation that would ban artificial intelligence (AI) systems from using the title “nurse,” drawing strong support from professional nursing organizations. Chief Healthcare Executive reported the news April 16.

As detailed in the article, the bill seeks to preserve the integrity of the nursing profession and ensure public trust in healthcare by preventing AI tools—or any “nonhuman entity”—from being labeled as a “nurse,” “nursing assistant,” “nurse practitioner,” or similar designation.

Just one page long, the legislation has passed the state House and now awaits action in the Senate. As for the intent, the article quotes Oregon State Rep. Travis Nelson, a Democrat, registered nurse, and chief sponsor: “Only licensed, educated humans should be called nurses.”

The measure comes in response to growing concern among nurses about AI products being marketed as nursing substitutes, the outlet reports. For example, one company previously promoted an AI tool as capable of handling nursing tasks for $9 an hour—far below standard wages—before later changing its marketing.

The American Nurses Association has voiced support for the bill. The article also highlights the broader push for nurses to be involved in the development of AI technologies, as well as how public scrutiny around the issue has intensified since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised an “AI nurse” allegedly developed by the Cleveland Clinic (the outlet notes that the Clinic denied the existence of any such AI nurse). The Oregon Nurses Association and National Nurses Union have each taken a firm stance as well.