AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 29-1141.01

Will AI replace Acute Care Nurses?

Acute Care Nurses: AI can already handle 7 of 27 tasks; the work mostly needs a standard-tier model.

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Every task, scored

The 27 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Acute Care Nurses, from most to least exposed. 7 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.

Task AI exposure Evidence Model tier Importance
Assess urgent and emergent health conditions, using both physiologically and technologically derived data. 65 Estimated Frontier 4.8
Document data related to patients' care, including assessment results, interventions, medications, patient responses, or treatment changes. 65 Estimated Efficient 4.6
Interpret information obtained from electrocardiograms (EKGs) or radiographs (x-rays). 65 Estimated Frontier 4.5
Collaborate with members of multidisciplinary health care teams to plan, manage, or assess patient treatments. 65 Estimated Standard 4.5
Assess the needs of patients' family members or caregivers. 65 Estimated Standard 4.4
Assess the impact of illnesses or injuries on patients' health, function, growth, development, nutrition, sleep, rest, quality of life, or family, social and educational relationships. 65 Estimated Standard 3.8
Refer patients for specialty consultations or treatments. 60 Estimated Efficient 4.2
Perform emergency medical procedures, such as basic cardiac life support (BLS), advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), and other condition-stabilizing interventions. 55 Estimated Efficient 4.8
Adjust settings on patients' assistive devices, such as temporary pacemakers. 55 Estimated Efficient 4.7
Set up, operate, or monitor invasive equipment and devices, such as colostomy or tracheotomy equipment, mechanical ventilators, catheters, gastrointestinal tubes, and central lines. 55 Estimated Efficient 4.6
Administer blood and blood product transfusions or intravenous infusions, monitoring patients for adverse reactions. 55 Estimated Standard 4.5
Perform administrative duties that facilitate admission, transfer, or discharge of patients. 55 Estimated Efficient 4.5
Obtain specimens or samples for laboratory work. 55 Estimated Efficient 4.5
Participate in patients' care meetings and conferences. 55 Estimated Standard 4.2
Treat wounds or superficial lacerations. 55 Estimated Efficient 4.2
Provide formal and informal education to other staff members. 55 Estimated Standard 4.1
Manage patients' pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions, monitoring patients' responses, and changing care plans accordingly. 50 Estimated Standard 4.5
Read current literature, talk with colleagues, and participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in acute care. 50 Estimated Standard 4.1
Collaborate with patients to plan for future health care needs or to coordinate transitions and referrals. 50 Estimated Standard 4.1
Distinguish between normal and abnormal developmental and age-related physiological and behavioral changes in acute, critical, and chronic illness. 50 Estimated Frontier 3.9
Participate in the development of practice protocols. 50 Estimated Frontier 3.8
Discuss illnesses and treatments with patients and family members. 40 Observed Efficient 4.9
Analyze the indications, contraindications, risk complications, and cost-benefit tradeoffs of therapeutic interventions. 40 Observed Efficient 3.9
Assist patients in organizing their health care system activities. 40 Observed Standard 3.6
Diagnose acute or chronic conditions that could result in rapid physiological deterioration or life-threatening instability. 10 Estimated No tier 4.9
Prescribe medications and observe patients' reactions, modifying prescriptions as needed. 10 Estimated No tier 4.5
Order, perform, or interpret the results of diagnostic tests and screening procedures based on assessment results, differential diagnoses, and knowledge about age, gender and health status of clients. 10 Estimated No tier 4.2

Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 3 of 27 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 24 of 27. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.

The model tier this role needs

A standard-tier model or lower covers 74% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 89% of the work is something AI can address at some tier, and 12% is hands-on.

Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.

Wages, employment and outlook

US employment
3,379,720
Median annual wage
$97,550
Middle half of earners
$80,330 to $112,350
Projected change, 2024 to 2034
+4.9%

Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034. BLS publishes these figures by SOC code, so O*NET occupations that share a SOC code show the same figures.

Adjacent roles

The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.

Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.

Questions about Acute Care Nurses and AI

Will AI replace Acute Care Nurses?

AI already handles 7 of the 27 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 50 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears. BLS projects employment to change by +4.9% from 2024 to 2034.

What is the AI exposure of Acute Care Nurses?

50 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 3 of the 27 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 24 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.

Which Acute Care Nurses tasks can AI already do?

The tasks with the highest exposure are: Assess urgent and emergent health conditions, using both physiologically and technologically derived data; Document data related to patients' care, including assessment results, interventions, medications, patient responses, or treatment changes; Interpret information obtained from electrocardiograms (EKGs) or radiographs (x-rays). They are three of the 7 tasks that reach 60 or more.

What AI model tier does this role need?

A standard-tier model or lower covers 74% of the role's importance-weighted task work. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.

How many people work as Acute Care Nurses, and what do they earn?

3,379,720 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $97,550 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +4.9% from 2024 to 2034.

How to cite

Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.

JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Acute Care Nurses. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/acute-care-nurses

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