Artificial intelligence literacy of nursing students: A cross-sectional study

With the rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the nursing field, AI literacy has emerged as a critical competency for nursing students. However, evidence regarding the current status and influencing factors of AI literacy among Chinese nursing students remains limited.

This cross-sectional study aimed to examine AI literacy levels across four dimensions (Awareness, Application, Evaluation, Ethics) among Chinese nursing students, identify its independent influencing factors, and generate localized empirical evidence for AI curriculum construction in vocational nursing education.

A cross-sectional study was conducted between November 1, 2025 and January 20, 2026. The research institution has not set up an institutional ethics committee; the whole protocol was ethically reviewed by the supervisor team in line with the Declaration of Helsinki before recruitment. A total of 178 sophomore nursing students from Henan Vocational University of Science and Technology were enrolled via convenience sampling. Data were collected using the Artificial Intelligence Literacy Scale (AILS, Wang et al., 2023). This scale is publicly accessible for non-commercial academic research; the original authors have granted open-use permission for educational cross-sectional surveys without additional formal written authorization. After data cleaning, 155 valid questionnaires were included (effective response rate = 86.9%). Nonparametric tests and ordinal logistic regression were performed via IBM SPSS 27.0 for statistical analysis.

Participants demonstrated a moderate level of overall artificial intelligence literacy (Median = 60.00, IQR = 21.00, SD = 13.18). The Application dimension scored highest. Gender and interest in AI were independent influencing factors. Strong positive correlations were identified among all four dimensions.

Study findings suggest that nursing education should integrate AI content and targeted training to strengthen students' AI awareness, critical evaluation, and ethical awareness, while providing tailored support for female students and boosting AI interest.