Artificial intelligence readiness and its relationship with thriving at work among Chinese nurses: a latent profile analysis

Objectives To explore the latent profile categories of nurses’ artificial intelligence readiness and analyze the relationship between these categories and thriving at work, so as to provide references for nursing managers to develop targeted management strategies to enhance nurses’ level of thriving at work. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted from February to April 2026 among 498 nurses from five hospitals in Anhui Province, China. Data were collected using a general information questionnaire, the Medical Artificial Intelligence Readiness Scale, and the Thriving at Work Scale. Latent profile analysis was performed using the 22 artificial intelligence readiness items as manifest indicators. Model selection was based on information criteria, entropy, likelihood-ratio tests, profile size, posterior classification probabilities, parsimony, and interpretability. Chi-square tests, one-way analysis of variance, and multinomial logistic regression were used for exploratory profile comparisons. Results Three profiles were identified: low artificial intelligence readiness ( n = 70, 14.06%), moderate artificial intelligence readiness ( n = 283, 56.82%), and high artificial intelligence readiness ( n = 145, 29.12%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that department, hospital level, frequency of AI use over the past 6 months, and receipt of AI-related training were major influencing factors of the latent categories of nurses’ artificial intelligence readiness (all p < 0.05). There were statistically significant differences in the level of thriving at work among nurses in different latent categories of artificial intelligence readiness ( p < 0.05). Conclusion Artificial intelligence readiness among nurses is heterogeneous, and approximately one-third of nurses were classified into a high-readiness profile. The level of thriving at work varies among nurses in different latent categories of artificial intelligence readiness. Nursing managers and public health administrators should consider profile-specific strategies that combine targeted artificial intelligence training, clinical practice support, and career development for nurses.