Mayo Clinic Launches AI-Powered Nurse Virtual Assistant to Support Frontline Care

Key Takeaways: 

• Mayo Clinic nurses have led the design and development of an in-house, AI-powered Nurse Virtual Assistant to streamline access to clinical information.
• The tool consolidates patient summaries, evidence-based guidelines, and clinical policies into one tab within the electronic health record, reducing administrative burden.
• More than 9,600 nurses across Mayo Clinic’s inpatient and emergency departments are now using the system, with ongoing feedback ensuring it continues to evolve with nursing practice.
  
  
  

Streamlining access to critical information

High-quality care depends on timely access to electronic health records, clinical policies, and evidence-based practice guidelines. However, navigating multiple systems to retrieve this information can be time-consuming for nurses, detracting from direct patient care.

To solve this challenge, Mayo Clinic’s Department of Nursing led a multidisciplinary initiative to create Nurse Virtual Assistant – a generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool developed entirely in-house by nurses for nurses. Integrated into Mayo Clinic’s electronic health record (EHR) system, the tool presents essential information within a single tab, making it easier to retrieve and act upon.

Nurses can view a curated, nurse-specific patient summary and access direct links to key evidence-based resources, including Lippincott procedures, IV administration guidelines, and Mayo Clinic’s clinical policy library – all in one place.

This streamlined interface allows nurses to spend less time searching and more time focusing on what matters most: the person receiving care.

Augmenting – not replacing – human connection

Mayo Clinic emphasises that Nurse Virtual Assistant is designed to support, rather than replace, the expertise and human presence that nurses bring to clinical practice.

“It is an amazing tool,” says Nick Flynn, a registered nurse in the Emergency Department at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Arizona. Flynn highlights the value of consolidated patient data from inpatient stays, outpatient visits, and phone calls:

“You have easy access to a history of their illness, and that is available just moments after they arrive.”

Nurse-driven innovation from concept to rollout

The project began in 2024 as part of Mayo Clinic’s strategy to ease administrative pressures in a rapidly digitising healthcare environment. Crucially, nurses were involved at every stage – from conceptualisation to design and testing – ensuring the tool meets real-world clinical needs.

Early-access users played an active role in shaping the system’s features, providing feedback that directly informed improvements.

Brendon Bloomfield, a registered nurse in Psychiatric Acute Care at Mayo Clinic Hospital – Rochester, explains:

“To see a concept I was passionate about, AI-enhanced communication, actually get built – and to be invited to help shape it – reinforces that frontline nurses’ voices matter and that we have the power to influence the future of care.”

The solution underwent a research study approved by an Institutional Review Board before scaling to more than 9,600 nurses across inpatient and emergency department units.

Evolving with nursing practice

Nurse Virtual Assistant has been released as a Minimum Lovable Product – a version that not only solves an immediate problem but is designed to be engaging and impactful for end users. Nurses can submit feedback directly through the tool, allowing the solution to continuously evolve with frontline input.

Enhancements already implemented include improved search result accuracy, refined content layouts, and new functionality based on user suggestions.

Privacy, security, and compliance at the core

Built to the highest standards of data privacy, the Nurse Virtual Assistant is a patent-pending solution developed in full compliance with HIPAA regulations and other applicable requirements. This ensures that patient information remains secure while enabling timely and efficient access for clinical teams.

Shaping the future of nursing care

Mayo Clinic’s Chief Nursing Officer, Ryannon Frederick, sees the innovation as a milestone in supporting nursing practice:

“Nurse Virtual Assistant is an example of how Mayo Clinic nurses are driving innovation and shaping the future of care. By reducing administrative burden, we allow nurses to focus on the most important part of their work: caring for patients with skill, compassion and presence.”