‘Co-pilot won’t teach you to be a nurse’: nursing academics’ perspectives on GenAI use in undergraduate education

The rapid emergence of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) presents significant opportunities and challenges for higher education, particularly in nursing where academic integrity, clinical reasoning and ethical practice are central to professional preparation. Despite increasing interest in GenAI, limited research has explored how nursing academics are responding to its integration in teaching and assessment. To explore nursing academics’ perceptions and experiences of GenAI use in undergraduate nursing education. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 22 nursing academics from a range of universities across Australia and New Zealand. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the data, with methodological rigour supported by COREQ guidelines. Three key themes were identified: (1) Navigating the Unknown: Ambiguity in GenAI Use, (2) GenAI Challenging Nursing’s Core Values and (3) Developing Ethical Nurses in a Digital Age. Participants described inconsistent institutional policies, diverse academic attitudes, and concerns regarding GenAI’s impact on assessment integrity, critical thinking, accountability, and readiness for safe clinical practice. While some acknowledged its potential as a supportive educational tool, others feared it could erode core nursing values and compromise graduates’ readiness for clinical practice. These findings suggest that GenAI challenges not only academic integrity processes, but also the basis on which nursing educators judge students’ readiness for safe practice. Clearer guidance, curriculum redesign, and values-based integration are needed to ensure GenAI strengthens, rather than compromises, the development of safe, ethical, and competent nursing graduates. Not applicable.