“Potentially Helpful, Potentially Harmful”: Professional Identity and Views of AI Among Physicians, Nurses, and PAs

• In Event: AI, Novel Technologies, and Health Equity

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated into healthcare settings, yet little research compares how different healthcare professions interpret its risks and benefits. Guided by professional identity theory, this exploratory study examines how physicians, nurses/NPs, and physician assistants (PAs) perceive AI in clinical contexts. Professional identity—shaped by training, role responsibilities, authority structures, and liability expectations—provides a valuable lens for understanding why clinicians may view AI differently despite working within the same systems.

Drawing on a mixed methods survey of 325 clinicians in South Carolina, we present descriptive quantitative findings on AI knowledge and experience, followed by an in depth qualitative analysis of two open ended questions. Chi square analyses revealed role based differences in AI familiarity; however, these patterns served primarily as contextual background for interpreting the qualitative results. Qualitative coding across professions yielded five themes: (1) trust and reliability, (2) workflow, practicality, and burden, (3) patient facing impact, (4) accountability and liability, and (5) professional identity and role security.

Across all professions, respondents expressed both optimism and caution. Yet they articulated concerns in ways that reflected distinct professional identities. Physicians emphasized diagnostic accuracy, autonomy, and medico legal risk; nurses highlighted relational care, patient appropriateness, and fear of disciplinary consequences; and PAs focused on verification, supervisory expectations, and efficiency within team based practice. These identity linked interpretations suggest that AI is not experienced as a uniform technological innovation but as a potential reconfiguration of professional roles, responsibilities, and boundaries.

Findings underscore the importance of profession specific training, governance frameworks that clarify accountability, and implementation strategies attentive to interprofessional dynamics. By comparing qualitatively expressed concerns across physicians, nurses/NPs, and PAs, this study highlights professional identity as a central mechanism shaping how clinicians make sense of AI and its evolving place in healthcare delivery.

Authors

• Catherine Mobley, Clemson University

• Emma Wituk

• Shelia R. Cotten, Clemson University

• Xia Jing

• Md Tareq Ferdous Khan