Artificial Intelligence Awareness and Readiness among Nursing Students in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative technology in healthcare, offering significant opportunities to improve clinical decision-making, patient care, and healthcare efficiency. As AI applications continue to expand across healthcare settings, nursing students must develop adequate awareness and readiness to effectively utilize these technologies in future professional practice.

Aim: This study aimed to assess the level of awareness and readiness toward artificial intelligence among nursing students and to identify the factors associated with AI readiness.

Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted among 396 nursing students at Riyadh Elm University, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire consisting of demographic characteristics, the Artificial Intelligence Awareness Scale, and the Artificial Intelligence Readiness Scale. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA with Tukey HSD post hoc analysis, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression were performed using SPSS version 27. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

Results: Nursing students demonstrated a moderate level of AI awareness (mean = 3.43 ± 0.44, 68.57%) and a high level of AI readiness (mean = 3.93 ± 0.45, 78.52%). Significant differences in AI awareness were observed according to academic level and self-rated computer skills. AI readiness was significantly associated with age, academic level, previous use of AI-related tools, and self-rated computer skills. A strong positive correlation was found between AI awareness and AI readiness (r = 0.685, p < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis identified AI awareness as the strongest independent predictor of AI readiness (B = 0.681, p < 0.001), with the model explaining 56.9% of the variance in AI readiness (R² = 0.569).

Conclusion: Nursing students demonstrated positive readiness toward artificial intelligence despite having only moderate awareness. Integrating AI-related education, practical training, and digital competency development into undergraduate nursing curricula may enhance students' awareness and strengthen their readiness to effectively utilize AI technologies in future nursing practice.