The impact of nursing students’ ethical decision-making confidence and problem-solving ability on their artificial intelligence ethical awareness

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the impact of nursing students’ ethical decision-making confidence and problem-solving ability on artificial intelligence (AI) ethical awareness, providing a foundation for enhancing ethical AI utilization in future healthcare environments.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 164 nursing students from a university in Gwangju. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 23.0, including independent t-test, Kruskal–Wallis test, Mann–Whitney U test, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis.Results: Multiple regression analysis revealed that problem-solving ability significantly predicted AI ethical awareness (B=0.29, p<.001), whereas ethical decision-making confidence was not a significant factor. Students with neutral satisfaction regarding university life showed lower levels of AI ethical awareness than those who were dissatisfied; however, the difference was not statistically significant. The overall model explained 27.0% of the variance.Conclusion: Problem-solving ability was the strongest predictor of AI ethical awareness. These findings suggest that AI ethics education should move beyond the mere provision of knowledge or enhancement of confidence, and instead incorporate learning approaches oriented toward problem-solving that strengthen students’ capacity to analyze and resolve AI ethical issues in practice.