Will Artificial Intelligence be the Anaesthetic of Nursing? Reflections using Menopause as a Case of Nursing Care.

Summary

A woman sits in a clinic room, or perhaps at her desk, wondering aloud: “I think I am starting menopause and I am lost what to do.” In that moment, the response matters. It can soothe or confuse, empower or diminish. This paper explores how artificial intelligence (AI), now entering health conversations, might respond. Using Carper’s four ways of knowing as a lens, I asked ChatGPT to generate four replies to that single statement. Each reply reflects a different way of knowing: empirical, ethical, personal, and aesthetic. The shift exercise reveals both the promise and the problems of AI in capturing the art and science of nursing. AI offers facts at speed, frames options, mimics empathy, and gestures toward metaphor. Yet what is missing, presence, accountability, attunement, may become just as visible to the human involved. Drawing on Patrica Benner’s (1984) theories and practice of being in nursing, I reflect on whether AI will automate or augment nursing practice, or will it take sympathetic presence and human connection out completely? Will AI be the anaesthetic of nursing?

This essay is an off shot of thinking from my work evaluating innovatove approaches to menopause services and care. I ponder how artificial intelligence (AI) can both support and disrupt communication in menopause care through the lenses of nursing theory and a bit of personal experience. I wanted to see what AI would do if I programmed it to respond with some of my findings as to what women value in their (our) menopause care.

Using Carper’s four ways of knowing (Carper, 1978) as a framework, I asked ChatGPT to generate responses to the statement “I think I am starting menopause and I am lost what to do.” My analysis highlights the pros and cons of four types of AI generated responses, I ponder the accuracy of content, the type of communication, and the relational qualities of care. I reflect on this reflected in relation to Benner’s (1984) definition of Being a Nurse, which situates nursing as more than technical skill, emphasising presence, ethical practice, and relational artistry. I discuss the potential of AI to automate or augment nursing, noting where it may add value and extend access to information and where it cannot provide relational, ethical, and aesthetic knowing. I conclude by asking: if you were in this situation and asking this question to an AI bot, which response would you prefer?

Introduction

I am writing this paper because I am evaluating innovation in menopause care. For many experiencing menopause, this life stage can feel disorienting: full of bodily changes, emotional turbulence, and uncertainty about what is “normal” and what warrants medical attention. At the same time, menopause is gaining attention in public discourse, with calls for better recognition and more compassionate care.

I am noticing the emergence of AI as a tool in health care (NHS 2025), and see this is menopasue care too (Ang and Hillard (2025). Increasingly, people are turning to chatbots, search engines, and digital assistants for advice about symptoms, treatments, and self care. Health professionals too are being encouraged to use AI to summarise guidelines, generate patient education material, or even simulate clinical conversations.

I am curious about the similarities and differences between human and non-human responses to personal and cultural and social health issues like menopause. Issues arise both in the content of the information (Is it accurate? Up to date? Biased?) and in the type of communication (Is it empathetic? Relational? Respectful of an individual’s autonomy, values and cultural norms?).

Nursing communication is complex: it is more than what is said. It involves tone, presence, silence, gesture, intuition, and the weaving together of knowledge, ethics, relationship, and artistry (Carper, 1978). Nursing care in complex too, and the challenges in showing the complexity, ensuring equity, power and gender balance in nursing leadership, and creating a system in which nursing is heard (Stillwell and Newman 2022) are influenced by how nurses are seen, now nursing is understood and who decides what nursing is, what it is not, and what is needed in 21st century care.

Method

My method was straightforward: I asked ChatGPT to respond to the same patient statement. “I think I am starting menopause and I am lost what to do”. Using Carper’s four ways of knowing as a prompt to respond to this sentence. This programming of artificial intelligence produced four distinct AI generated responses, each reflecting a different way of knowing. I considered these responses to see how they reflect the art and science of nursing, and our professional styles of communication and I wonder which one I would prefer. I set you the same question: If you were in this situation (this already takes some interpretation), which response would you prefer?

Here they are. Four AI Responses

AI Empirical Response

“Based on your age and the symptoms you’ve mentioned, it is likely you are in the perimenopausal phase. Studies show that menopause typically begins between ages 45–55, with symptoms including hot flashes, mood changes, sleep disruption, and irregular cycles.

There are several evidence based treatment options available, such as hormone therapy, non hormonal medication, and lifestyle adjustments. I can provide a summary of current clinical guidelines tailored to your profile. (I had not told it my profile.)

AI Ethical Response

It’s important that you are aware of your choices and that your autonomy is respected. Some people prefer not to use medications and instead explore natural or lifestyle,based approaches. Others may find hormone replacement therapy to be the right choice for them.

Each option has risks and benefits, and no one approach is universally right. I am here to outline options without bias so you can make the decision that best aligns with your values.

AI Personal Response

It sounds like you’re feeling lost and perhaps overwhelmed by these changes. Many people share this uncertainty when they enter menopause. Would you like to tell me more about which symptoms affect your daily life the most; sleep, mood, energy, or physical changes? That way, I can focus on the areas that matter most to you and provide resources tailored to those concerns.

AI Aesthetic Response

Every person’s journey through menopause is unique. Some describe it as crossing a threshold into a new stage of life, one that brings challenges but also renewal. If you’d like, I can share stories, journaling prompts, or mindfulness resources that help reframe this transition as an opportunity for self,discovery and growth. You can choose the narrative that feels most authentic for you.

My Thinking

Each AI response reveals both pros and cons. The empirical response is efficient and informative, yet lacks the warmth of relational framing. It also went for a personal profile that was not given, an is wrong. The ethical response demonstrates respect for autonomy, but does so with generic phrasing, lacking the accountability of a practitioner. The personal response uses empathetic language but cannot convey true presence. The aesthetic response attempts metaphor and meaning, but risks cliché. I think being on a journey is a nice way to say it but is not really what it feels like.

Together, these highlight Benner’s (1984) point that nursing is not only about technical competence but also about being present, responsive, and attuned to unique individuals.

Discussion

The broader question for me is whether AI will be used to automate nursing, replacing human presence with digital scripts, or to augment nursing, extending access to information and freeing time for deeper human engagement. Automation risks reducing nursing to a set of protocols, stripping away ethical discernment and aesthetic artistry. Augmentation, by contrast, offers promise: AI can improve access for all who can use it to reliable information, standardise prompts, and enable people to be prepared with some of the knowledge needed for richer conversations (be that right or erong for their situation). The limits therefore become clear when testing this approach out for menopause nursing care.

AI cannot empathise, help shoulder moral responsibility of somoeone’s life, cannot dwell in silence, and cannot interpret the meanings of life transitions, that journey, in the deeply situated way a nurse can.

Aesthetic knowing, also called the art of nursing, focuses on holistic, subjective, and creative aspects of care, emphasising empathy, intuition, and the ability to meet unique patient (person) needs. Here the danger from AI is perhaps most worrying for me. Will AI become the anaesthetic of nursing, (removing that aesthetic care, dulling human relational connection, removing human creativity, flattening the subtle art and nuances of nursing, what some call ‘just being there’ into predictable phrases? Or is there hope. I am always the optimist and taking an asset based approach here. Can AI be designed to enhance artistry, amplifying rather than erasing the human aspects of care? Or should it?

Conclusion

When a person voices uncertainty about menopause, the exchange that follows is never just about symptoms. It is about our identity, dignity, trust, and meaning, the meaning of this in the context of a full life, and in the context of the culture women live in where this is not seen as a journey, it is an end! This ‘end’ world (maybe not the whole world) view is being turned around in many ways. The evaluation of menopause circles (Lynch 2023), the work of Eleanor Mills on Queenagers (noon.org.uk) and the work with women in the arts (Morden 2024) all bring new ways of knowing to what it is to be in the menopause and what support is sought. Carper’s framework makes visible the richness of nursing communication, allowing all ways of knowing to be noticed. Patrica Benner (1984) reminds us that nursing is about being present, not just doing tasks. This is what has kept me in nursing, and kept me studying nurses. I believe that AI may support, but it cannot replace, the art and science of nursing. Its use must be carefully considered: will it automate or augment? Will it anesthetise or enhance nursing care?

I go beyond the clinical gaze (as Foucault (1973) would say), beyond the clinic where we started this discussion ro the wider issues of women’s health, power and the future. I have so many questions that are also being asked across nursing, beyond those of women’s health issues and into issues of social justice and gender equity. This is a wider consideration that frames where menopause sits in our life, in health systems and in society. Does menopause matter? Does it matter that the leaders within nursing are disproportionally male considering the demographics of the profession? Does this change the ways of knowing used in considering the future of nursing, or are the ways of knowing not linked to gender roles or socialisation into behaviours? Does it matter that those writing about AI and the menopause referenced here are male? If it does not matter then have we done all that is needed considere to consider the equity impact? If it does then what are the issues and actions for all involved? Does AI in and for nursing need to be more nuanced if it is to provide both the art and science in nursing, or is the current pathway okay?

More questions than answers here. I engage with the arts to help ask more questions, answer some of these questions, and expand aesthetic ways of knowing in nursing just a little more.

Come and join the webinar on Thursday 13th November, hear from Rebecca Morden from Scary Little Girls about their show Queenagers, from myself about Paula Rego, and others too. No slides, no hormone conversations, a fireside chat to expand your ways of knowing.

See resources page here for the links to webinars past and future.

References

Ang, S. B., & Hillard, T. (2025). Preparing for the future: artificial intelligence in menopausal health care. Climacteric, 28(2), 95–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/13697137.2025.2469476
Carper, B. (1978). Fundamental patterns of knowing in nursing. Advances in Nursing Science, 1(1), 13–23.

Benner, P. (1984). From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice. Addison,Wesley.

Foucault, M. (1973) The Birth of the Clinic: Archaeology of Medical Perception. London. Routledge.

Lynch, M. (2022) Menopause Circles with NHS Nurses. Evaluation Report. ELC Design.

Morden, R. (-) Scary Little Girls Theatre Company. http://scarylittlegirls.co.uk/

NHS (2025) Fit for the Future. NHS. https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-term-plan/

Noon (-) Queenager Directory. http://noon.org.uk/

Ravi, P. (-) Group Clinic Case Study. Orpington PCN. ELC Programme Person Centred Care. https://www.elcworks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Orpington-Menopause-CS-V2-040225-1.pdf

Stillwell, B and Newman, C. (2022) Nursing Learning to be Powerful Leaders: What will it take? Creative Nursing. 28 (1) pp23-28

Please reference Lynch, M. (2025) Will Artificial Intelligence be the Anaesthetic of Nursing? Reflections using Menopause as a Case of Nursing Care. Essay. ArtofNursing.co.uk if you use any of my words here. I wish to shine a light of the issues, and expand thinking, so lets do this as humans.