Oregon bill seeks to ban AI from using ‘nurse’ title amid patient safety concerns

Editor's Note

Only humans should be called nurses, argues Oregon State Representative Travis Nelson, a Portland Democrat and practicing nurse who recently introduced new legislation aiming to prevent the title from applying to artificial intelligence (AI) or any non-human entity. As detailed in a February 4 report from Nurse.org, House Bill 2748 is a direct response to concerns about AI’s expanding role in healthcare, as well as growing unease over patient safety and the future of nursing.

The legislation is concise—just one page—but its implications are broad, Nurse.org reports. It explicitly bans AI systems or other nonhuman entities from being referred to as nurses, reinforcing the importance of human skills such as empathy, critical thinking, and nuanced decision-making in patient care. The bill comes as AI-driven tools, including a recently announced $9-per-hour AI system capable of performing nursing-related tasks, raise alarms about the potential for technology to replace human healthcare workers.

Nelson has hinted at pursuing additional legislation that would allow patients to opt out of AI-driven treatment, though such measures are unlikely to pass before the session ends in June, the outlet reports. Meanwhile, House Bill 2748 has already received its first hearing before the House Behavioral Health and Health Care Committee, where lawmakers debated the rapid evolution of AI and the need for accountability in automated healthcare decisions.