Empathic and agentic artificial intelligence in nursing: perspectives on a human-centered framework for cancer care navigation in the United States
For nursing and cancer care in the US, this perspective offers a conceptual framework to address gaps in care coordination, but it is incremental as it does not provide empirical results.
The paper proposes a human-centered AI framework integrating empathic and agentic approaches to support nurse navigation in cancer care, aiming to augment workflow and care coordination in under-resourced areas without replacing human empathy.
For patients experiencing cancer, nurse navigation can ease the burden of complex care by enhancing coordination of health services and patient outcomes. However, in under-resourced areas, trained nurse navigators may be limited or non-existent. In the United States, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled digital health tools are increasingly available and may help address gaps in care coordination; however, most are not designed to specifically support nursing. This perspective piece discusses a human-centered AI framework that integrates empathic and agentic approaches grounded in the American Nurses Association's code of ethics to support nurses in the United States in cancer care navigation. The framework could augment, not replace, human empathy and agency while improving nurse workflow, patient-clinician relationships, and care coordination services in under-resourced areas.