The benefits of artificial intelligence for nursing operational managers in South African public hospitals

Background: Artificial intelligence is the greatest technological revolution of the 21st century with enormous benefits. Nursing operational managers of South African public hospitals are expected to implement artificial intelligence in their nursing units, they however have limited understanding of its actual benefits. Purpose: This study aims to explore and describe the actual benefits of artificial intelligence for nursing operational managers in South African public hospitals. Design and methods: A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual research design was adopted in this study. Data was collected from the nursing operational managers of a public hospital in Gauteng, South Africa, using 12 in-depth individual interviews and two focus groups interviews. Field notes were collected, and a method of Giorgi and Colaizzi thematic analysis was employed to analyse data. The findings of the study were confirmed by the independent coder. Results: The findings of the study culminated into four themes: 1) improved healthcare system, 2) mitigation of healthcare costs, 3) workload reduction for healthcare professionals, and 4) excited world-class healthcare professionals. Discussion and conclusions: AI is improving the quality of healthcare system in public hospitals and nursing operational managers should be well informed of the actual benefits of AI for them to advocate for its uptake.