Psychological recovery of nurses after emergencies and disasters: a systematic review protocol.

Abstract

With the increasing frequency and intensity of disasters globally-and their profound effects on the mental well-being of healthcare professionals, particularly nurses-the psychological distress experienced by nurses following natural disasters has become a pressing issue. This study aims to explore prevalent patterns and effective interventions for supporting nurses' psychological recovery after disaster exposure, ultimately aiming to propose an optimal recovery model. This systematic review will include qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods studies, as well as relevant systematic reviews, published in English between 2010 and 2025. A comprehensive search will be conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar. Study selection, data extraction and quality assessment will be performed independently by multiple reviewers, with methodological quality and risk of bias evaluated using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Due to anticipated heterogeneity, findings will be synthesised using thematic analysis. This study protocol raises no ethical issues. The results will be shared through publication in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at appropriate academic conferences. CRD420251014914.