Navigating the AI Revolution in Nursing: A Polarity Intelligence Approach to Managing Technology and Human Connection
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Artificial intelligence (AI) represents one of the most significant technological transformations in healthcare history. The nursing profession finds itself at a critical juncture, navigating between the promise of AI-enhanced efficiency and the preservation of human-centered care. This article proposes that the debate between AI adoption and resistance is not a problem to be solved but a polarity to be managed. Drawing on Barry Johnson's Polarity Management framework, Bonnie Wesorick's pioneering application of polarity thinking to healthcare transformation, and the Polarity Intelligence model developed by Tracy Christopherson and Michelle Troseth, this analysis provides nursing leaders with conceptual tools and practical strategies for leveraging the tension between technological innovation and human connection. The article integrates the theoretical contributions of Jean Watson's Caring Science, Patricia Benner's work on clinical expertise, and Christine Tanner's Clinical Judgment Model to illuminate what is at stake in the human connection pole. A comprehensive polarity map illustrates the greater purpose, deepest fears, upsides, and downsides of both stances. The article concludes with actionable tools for nurse leaders to facilitate productive dialogue and sustainable integration of AI while protecting the caring essence of nursing practice.
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This article proposes that the AI integration challenge in nursing represents a polarity to manage rather than a problem to solve. By applying Polarity Management principles, building on Bonnie Wesorick's foundational work in healthcare transformation, and developing Polarity Intelligence, nursing leaders can move beyond the debate of whether to embrace or resist AI toward a more productive question: How do we leverage both technological capability and human connection to achieve optimal patient outcomes and professional flourishing?
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Pesut, Daniel. (2026). Navigating the AI Revolution in Nursing: A Polarity Intelligence Approach to Managing Technology and Human Connection. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/277848.
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