Professionals · code 2221
Nursing professionals
Nursing professionals provide treatment, support and care services for people who are in need of nursing care due to the effects of ageing, injury, illness or other physical or mental impairment, or potential risks to health. They assume responsibility for the planning and management of the care of patients, including the supervision of other health care workers, working autonomously or in teams with medical doctors and others in the practical application of preventive and curative measures. Tasks include - (a) planning, providing and evaluating nursing care for patients according to the practice and standards of modern nursing; (b) coordinating the care of patients in consultation with other health professionals and members of health teams; (c) developing and implementing care plans for the biological, social and psychological treatment of patients in collaboration with other health professionals; (d) planning and providing personal care, treatments and therapies including administering medications, and monitoring responses to treatment or care plan; (e) cleaning wounds and applying surgical dressings and bandages; (f) monitoring pain and discomfort experienced by patients and alleviating pain using a variety of therapies, including the use of painkilling drugs; (g) planning and participating in health education programmes, health promotion and nurse education activities in clinical and community settings; (h) answering questions from patients and families and providing information about prevention of ill-health, treatment and care; (i) supervising and coordinating the work of other nursing, health and personal care workers; (j) conducting research on nursing practices and procedures and disseminating findings such as through scientific papers and reports. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Clinical nurse consultant - District nurse - Nurse anaesthetist - Nurse educator - Nurse practitioner - Operating theatre nurse - Professional nurse - Public health nurse - Specialist nurse Some related occupations classified elsewhere: - Professional midwife - 2222 - Paramedical practitioners - 2240 - University lecturer - 2310 - Vocational education teacher - 2320 - Associate professional nurse - 3221 - Associate professional midwife - 3222 - Nursing aide (clinic or hospital) - 5321 Notes The distinction between professional and associate professional nurses should be made on the basis of the nature of the work performed in relation to the tasks specified in this definition. The qualifications held by individuals or that predominate in the country are not the main factor in making this distinction, as training arrangements for nurses vary widely between countries and have varied over time within countries. Nurses who combine nursing education or research with clinical nursing practice are classified in Unit Group 2221: Nursing Professionals. Nursing researchers who participate in biomedical research using living organisms and do not undertake clinical nursing practice are classified in Unit Group 2131: Biologists, Botanists, Zoologists and Related Professionals.
None of this job's tasks scored high enough to count. It ranks 201 of 427 for holding up against AI.
Also known as
- nurse responsible for general care
- advanced nurse practitioner
- specialist nurse
Job titles from the EU's ESCO list. Search for any of them on the jobs page and you'll end up here.
against AI Not Exposed
AI could take on 25.2 of 100, on average
so it holds up at 100 − 25.2 = 74.8
That's the whole sum, and you can check it against the ILO's study.
out of 100
From O*NET, averaged across 7 US jobs , so treat it as rough
and cramped
finger skill 40.1 · hand skill 37.2 · cramped spaces 41.6 · averaged
Kind of hands-on work · hands-on under 50 Less than half hands-on
Less than half of this job is hands-on. Robots still matter, but for a smaller part of the work, so we don't sort it any further.
estimated O*NET 31.0 BLS occupational crosswalk chain ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC (Aug 2012, rev. Jun 2015); 2010 to 2018 SOC (Nov 2017); O*NET-SOC 2019 taxonomy data 0.7-work-setting measures chosen by Frey & Osborne (2017) · the grouping is a sorting, not a measurement
What this number leaves out This job rates 45.3 out of 100 for how hands-on it is. The score above only looks at AI tools, not robots, but for work this far from the physical that matters less.
The tasks behind the score
The score is the average of these. A job is really a bundle of tasks, and an average can hide how uneven that bundle is.
The task AI could do most of scores 46, while the average is 25.2. A big gap means some of this job is wide open to AI and some of it barely at all. That's quite different from a job where everything sits somewhere in the middle, even when the averages match.
- 46
Conducting research on nursing practices and procedures and disseminating findings such as through scientific papers and reports.
Low - 36.5
Answering questions from patients and families and providing information about prevention of ill-health, treatment and care
Low - 35.5
Planning and participating in health education programmes, health promotion and nurse education activities in clinical and community settings
Low - 30
Developing and implementing care plans for the biological, social and psychological treatment of patients in collaboration with other health professionals
Low - 28.5
Coordinating the care of patients in consultation with other health professionals and members of health teams
Low - 25.8
Supervising and coordinating the work of other nursing, health and personal care workers
Low - 20.5
Planning, providing and evaluating nursing care for patients according to the practice and standards of modern nursing
Very Low - 12
Monitoring pain and discomfort experienced by patients and alleviating pain using a variety of therapies, including the use of painkilling drugs
Very Low - 11
Planning and providing personal care, treatments and therapies including administering medications, and monitoring responses to treatment or care plan
Very Low - 6.3
Cleaning wounds and applying surgical dressings and bandages
Very Low
10 tasks · the High to Very Low labels are the ILO's
from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.7-work-setting
Helped, or replaced?
The score above can't tell a tool that makes you faster from one that does the task instead of you. Jobs and Skills Australia looked at those two things separately, and this is their result, matched to this job.
3 Australian jobs match this one, and we've simply averaged them. Treat the numbers as a rough guide.
- AI helps you
- 68.3
- AI does it for you
- 31.3
Helping wins by 37 points.
estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.7-work-setting matched to Australian jobs 2542, 2543, 2544
Compared with similar jobs
There are 92 jobs in the “Professionals” group, averaging 61.2. This one is above that.
- Creative and performing artists not e… 87.1
- Veterinarians 85.8
- Dentists 85.1
- Religious professionals 83.4
- Dancers and choreographers 80.6
- Health professionals not elsewhere cl… 80.5
- Early childhood educators 79.2
- Visual artists 79
- Paramedical practitioners 76.7
- Optometrists and ophthalmic opticians 76.3
- Audiologists and speech therapists 76.2
- Primary school teachers 73.9
- Specialist medical practitioners 72.9
- Environmental and occupational health… 72
- Musicians, singers and composers 72
- Social work and counselling professio… 71.7
- Physiotherapists 71.6
- Special needs teachers 71.6
- Farming, forestry and fisheries advis… 71.5
- Generalist medical practitioners 71.3
- Mining engineers, metallurgists and r… 70.7
- Secondary education teachers 70.2
- Midwifery professionals 70.1
- Civil engineers 69.8
- Engineering professionals not elsewhe… 69.5
- Judges 68.7
- Electrical engineers 68.6
- Actors 68.6
A closer look
There's a written profile for this job, with notes on what changes and what stays human.