Expert nurses vs. ChatGPT for postoperative lumbar disk nursing care

The aim of this study was to compare ChatGPT-4-generated responses with expert nurse opinions regarding nursing care after lumbar disk surgery and to assess the adequacy of these responses in supporting nursing knowledge and practice.

This descriptive and comparative study used a 10-question form developed by the researchers from a literature review on nursing care after lumbar disk surgery. Ten nurses rated the accuracy of the responses generated by ChatGPT using a 5-point Likert scale (5: strongly agree, 1: strongly disagree). The maximum possible score on the rating scale was 50, and the minimum was 10.

Specialist nurses rated ChatGPT-4 responses highly in terms of pain management strategies (4.0 ± 1.41), prevention of bowel and bladder complications (4.0 ± 1.41), and monitoring of drains and dressings (4.5 ± 0.70). However, the expert panel reported that ChatGPT-4 provided partially inappropriate or incomplete information regarding discharge education (3.0 ± 1.41) and patient mobilization timing (3.0 ± 1.41).

When evaluated by specialist nurses, ChatGPT-4 was found to provide generally accurate information; however, it exhibited shortcomings in the nursing job description and remained limited in patient-specific care.