NAIL Digest · Issue #2

NAIL Digest: AI-Driven Nursing Informatics

Week of Jul 13, 2026 – Jul 27, 2026 · Retrieved from PubMed · Summarized by Claude Sonnet

Issue#2
WeekJul 13, 2026 – Jul 27, 2026
Papers10
Flagged3
GeneratedJul 27, 2026

Issue #2 Week of Jul 13, 2026 – Jul 27, 2026

10Papers
This issue at a glance

This issue centers on clinical decision support, with four papers testing how AI tools assist nurses in specific tasks: comparing large language models on oncology nursing scenarios, building a delirium-screening agent for ICU settings, reviewing AI use across clinical pharmacy, and developing a machine learning model to flag financial toxicity in stroke patients. A second thread looks at extracting information from unstructured text, including a review of AI for automated ICD coding and a generative AI approach to finding fall risk factors in aged care nursing notes. Workflow redesign also appears, through a voice documentation pilot and a co-designed initial assessment form.

Papers dropped from 49 to 10, and the leading topic shifted from Workforce & Education (29 papers last issue) to Clinical Decision Support (4 papers this issue), with education's share falling to just two papers, one a review protocol not yet reporting findings. The clinical decision support thread continues from last issue but shifts focus, moving from triage and risk-prediction tools toward LLM-based agents and screening support. Documentation and generative AI threads also continue, echoed in the voice documentation pilot and text-extraction studies. Patient-facing AI tools and AI ethics papers, both present last issue, do not appear this issue.

LLMs in clinical decision support 3Extracting insights from unstructured clinical text 2Nurse-involved documentation and workflow redesign 2AI attitudes and training in nursing education 2
Compared withIssue #1
Papers10 ▼ 39
Leading topicClinical Decision Support (was Workforce & Education)
Rising▲ Clinical Decision Support
Cooling▼ Workforce & Education
Flagged3 ▼ 23

How this digest is made: Papers retrieved bi-weekly from the community-configured sources (PubMed, arXiv, medRxiv, and/or CINAHL — see Digest Settings for this issue's exact sources) using search terms agreed at AINurse-26. Results are restricted to English-language papers; both title and abstract are checked independently, and either being predominantly non-English excludes the paper. Papers are then classified against the community's chosen topics — anything that doesn't clearly match is left out of the issue rather than shown as "Other." Summaries are generated by Claude Sonnet, constrained to report only what the abstract states, with no speculation or inference. The "At a Glance" section above is written under the same constraints — the model synthesizes themes only from the summaries included in this issue, and every number in it (counts, changes since the previous issue) is computed directly from the archive, not by the model. Flagged items indicate incomplete abstracts or unverified peer-review status.

Clinical Decision Support4 papers
Clinical Decision Support

Performance of Large Language Models for Oncology Nursing Decision Support: Cross-Sectional Study.

Zhou Q, Jia Y, Hu H, Huang D, Chen X, Xia Y et al.
Journal of medical Internet research · Jul 2026
Researchers tested five LLMs (DeepSeek, Qwen, Spark-Desk, WiseDiag, ChatGPT) on oncology nursing exam questions and case-based scenarios, with two experienced oncology nurses rating correctness, clarity, and conciseness. All models passed exam-style questions, but performance varied on case scenarios, with DeepSeek scoring higher than ChatGPT; interrater agreement was only moderate. This suggests LLMs may support information retrieval and patient education, but need professional judgment for complex, individualized clinical decisions.
PMID 42497362 PubMed DOI
Clinical Decision Support

Artificial intelligence agent for delirium screening among patients in oncology and cardiac intensive care units: a proof-of-concept study.

Zeng Y, Xie H, Gu F, Chen J, Zhang G, Jiang X et al.
European journal of cardiovascular nursing · Jul 2026
Researchers built an autonomous AI agent using a delirium-specific knowledge graph and guideline-based tools to support nurse-led delirium screening. Tested on 20 cases from oncology, post-operative, and cardiac ICU settings, the agent chose appropriate tools 100% of the time and gave accurate, guideline-aligned recommendations 90% of the time, outperforming other large language models (45%). This early-stage result suggests such tools could help standardize delirium recognition, though further testing in real cardiovascular care settings is needed.
PMID 41629753 PubMed DOI
Clinical Decision Support

Nurse‐Led Identification of Financial Toxicity in Stroke Patients Using Machine Learning: Development and Validation of an Associational Prediction Model.

Song, Yuan Xing, Yunjing Zong, Ce Liu, Hongbing Zhao, Haixu Liu, Yichang Zhang, Fuze Zhang, Jiaqi Zhang, Ke Sun, Changqing Gao, Yuan Fontenot, Justin School of Nursing and Health,, Zhengzhou University,, Zhengzhou, Henan, China, zzu.edu.cn
Journal of Nursing Management · 7/20
Researchers built a machine learning model to help nurses identify financial toxicity in stroke patients, using data from 575 patients. The XGBoost model performed best, with age, fear of progression, complications, primary caregiver, and out-of-pocket costs as key related factors; it was tested on 207 patients from another hospital and turned into a web-based calculator. This tool could help nurses spot financially vulnerable patients early and connect them with support, though longitudinal validation is still needed.
NLP & Generative AI2 papers
NLP & Generative AI

A Preliminary Approach to Fall Risk Assessment in Aged Care Facilities Using Generative AI Technologies.

Bai L, Deng C, Dam HK, Yin M, Yu P
Studies in health technology and informatics · Jul 2026
This study looked at 1,854 nursing notes from residential aged care facilities to find fall risk factors hidden in unstructured EHR text. Researchers combined large language models with retrieval-augmented generation, using expert feedback to refine results, and reached 97.3% precision, 89.9% recall, and a 93.3% F1 score. This suggests LLM-RAG methods can help extract fall risk information from EHRs without needing labelled datasets, supporting future fall prevention efforts.
PMID 42460585 PubMed DOI
EHR & Workflows2 papers
EHR & Workflows

AI-Powered Voice Documentation: A Nurse-Led Pilot Program.

Trias R, Coleman B, Bowers C, Mondejar S, Morales G, Hain P
The American journal of nursing · Aug 2026
This six-month pilot at an academic medical center tested a nurse-led, AI-powered voice documentation app on a 48-bed medical-surgical unit with 90 RNs and 33 nursing assistants. Documentation timeliness improved, app usage more than doubled, patient experience scores rose across all six Press Ganey domains, and monthly overtime hours nearly halved. The findings suggest involving nurses in technology design and rollout may support charting efficiency and staff and patient outcomes.
PMID 42487193 PubMed DOI
EHR & Workflows

Starting the Conversation: Implementation of Updated Initial Patient Assessment Documentation in the Electronic Medical Record.

Jedwab R, Gogler J, Brook R, Foster J, Garduce JN, Pham A et al.
Studies in health technology and informatics · Jul 2026
A healthcare organisation reviewed and redesigned its Initial Patient Assessment documentation in the electronic medical record, using the EPIS framework and co-design with nurses and consumers. The updated forms, made more conversational, rolled out across neonatal, paediatric, and adult admission areas, and showed sustained improvements in completeness and usefulness. This offers nursing informatics an example of co-designed documentation redesign involving end-users.
PMID 42460589 PubMed DOI
Workforce & Education2 papers
Workforce & Education

AI-Powered Simulation for Nursing Education: Mixed Methods Systematic Review.

Jiang H, Wang Z, Shen W, Meng M, Yang D, Li X et al.
Journal of medical Internet research · Jul 2026
This systematic review examined 19 studies (1253 participants, mostly prelicensure nursing students) on AI-powered simulations, including virtual patients, chatbots, and AI-enhanced VR. Results showed gains in knowledge, self-efficacy, and communication confidence, but mixed results for complex psychomotor skills, plus a persistent 'authenticity gap' around technical issues and lack of nonverbal cues. Researchers suggest AI should complement, not replace, traditional simulation and clinical placements.
PMID 42479870 PubMed DOI
Flagged Papers3
Clinical Decision Support 1 Flagged
Clinical Decision Support
Population unclear Setting unclear

Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Pharmacy: From Decision Support to Prescription Execution.

Jiang, Wenshuo Wang, Yuntian Shi, Weizhong Li, Cao Li, Mingda Tang, Yongqiang Yue, Xiaolin Zhao, Zhigang Bardhan, Munmun Department of Pharmacy,, Beijing Tiantan Hospital,, Capital Medical University,, Beijing 100070,, China, ccmu.edu.cn
Journal of Clinical Pharmacy & Therapeutics · 7/20
This review looks at how artificial intelligence, including machine learning and natural language processing, is used in clinical pharmacy. It found these tools help with drug therapy recommendations, precision dosing, predicting adverse drug events, and improving medication adherence. This matters for nursing informatics because it shows AI's growing role across the medication process, while noting data quality challenges still need attention.
NLP & Generative AI 1 Flagged
NLP & Generative AI
Population unclear

Recent Advances in AI for Automated ICD Coding: A Systematic Literature Review.

Khalid AR, Ali H, Fathima K, Sonia Carole K, Kim HC
Journal of medical systems · Jul 2026
This systematic review examined 54 studies (2019–2024) on AI models that automatically assign ICD codes from clinical texts like discharge summaries and nursing notes. Deep learning methods showed better results on frequent codes but struggled with rare codes, single-institution data, and limited interpretability. For nursing informatics, this highlights the need for diverse datasets, transparent models, and standardized testing before real-world use.
PMID 42461368 PubMed DOI
Workforce & Education 1 Flagged
Workforce & Education
Work in progress Not peer-reviewed

Awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards artificial intelligence among nursing students: a systematic review protocol.

Al Ghazali MN, Riaz M
BMJ open · Jul 2026
This protocol outlines a planned systematic review of studies on nursing students' awareness, knowledge, and attitudes toward AI in nursing education, with attention to the Gulf Cooperation Council region. It describes methods for searching, appraising, and synthesizing evidence but does not yet report findings. This work matters because it will map research gaps and identify consistent patterns to guide future nursing curricula and AI-related informatics research.
PMID 42463212 PubMed DOI