Acute Care Nurses
Machines can already do 28% of this job's tasks. By 2035 that rises to 49%. The job changes before it disappears.
Share of the work machines can do
Worldwide baseline, 2026 to 2050
Acute Care Nurses in 2026: the short answer
- Today: machines can do 28% of this job's tasks, and AI use is already seen in 6% of them.
- Forecast: machines can do half of its tasks by 2036, and 49% by 2035, according to the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit.
- Size: 3,379,720 people do this job in the United States, on a median pay of $97,550 a year.
- Contact with people: it scores 88% for contact with people.
- Also called: Acute Care Nurse, Cardiac Interventional Care Nurse, Cardiovascular ICU Nurse (Cardiovascular Intense Care Unit Nurse), Cardiovascular Surgery Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (Cardiovascular Surgery ACNP).
Updated by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit. These are worldwide baseline figures; the Workforce Starburst shows them for your country. Go deeper: How ready am I? or an executive briefing.
How the work changes, task by task
The tasks that take up most of the day, with the share of each that machines can do in 2026 (dark) and 2035 (pink). Worldwide baseline.
| Task | Share of the day | Machines can do | 2026 to 2035 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Document data related to patients' care, including assessment results, interventions, medications, patient responses, or treatment changes | 19% | 63% to 81% | |
| Assess urgent and emergent health conditions, using both physiologically and technologically derived data | 11% | 3% to 25% | |
| Discuss illnesses and treatments with patients and family members | 8% | 36% to 57% | |
| Collaborate with members of multidisciplinary health care teams to plan, manage, or assess patient treatments | 8% | 27% to 46% | |
| Manage patients' pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions, monitoring patients' responses, and changing care plans accordingly | 6% | 3% to 25% | |
| Administer blood and blood product transfusions or intravenous infusions, monitoring patients for adverse reactions | 5% | 3% to 25% | |
| Diagnose acute or chronic conditions that could result in rapid physiological deterioration or life-threatening instability | 4% | 22% to 42% | |
| Set up, operate, or monitor invasive equipment and devices, such as colostomy or tracheotomy equipment, mechanical ventilators, catheters, gastrointestinal tubes, and central lines | 4% | 3% to 25% |
The skills this job runs on
The skills acute care nurses use most, most used first.
Safer jobs nearby
Jobs with a similar skill shape where machines can do less of the work by 2035.
- Midwives41% of tasks by 2035 · US median $65,790
- Nurse Midwives45% of tasks by 2035 · US median $134,040
- Athletic Trainers39% of tasks by 2035 · US median $62,520
- Physical Therapists41% of tasks by 2035 · US median $102,760
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Questions
When will machines do half of the tasks of Acute Care Nurses?
Machines can do half of its tasks by 2036. That is the worldwide baseline from the 311 Workforce Starburst, before adjusting for country.
Will AI take the job of acute care nurses?
Machines can do 28% of the tasks of acute care nurses today and 49% by 2035. The job changes before it disappears: the routine tasks move first.
Sources and citing
Tasks and their share of the day: O*NET 31.0, occupation 29-1141.01 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0). Pay and jobs: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. AI use today: Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY). Scoring and forecast: the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit; after 2035 the figures extend each trend, with lower confidence. Foresight, not advice.
Cite as: 311 Institute (2026). Acute Care Nurses: the outlook to 2050. 311 Workforce Starburst. https://www.311institute.com/jobs/acute-care-nurses/