Article Impact Level: HIGH Data Quality: STRONG Summary of International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances, 9, 100361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnsa.2025.100361 Dr. Katherine Kruger et al.
Points
- A recent scoping review investigated the nursing workforce’s contribution to health system resilience, noting that nurses deliver approximately 80 percent of all direct hands-on patient care globally.
- Following a systematic search of three major databases that yielded 795 initial results, researchers selected eleven peer-reviewed articles for a comprehensive narrative synthesis and final analysis.
- The analysis revealed that while 91 percent of studies advocate for nurse leadership, the review found zero documented reports of their involvement in strategic planning or system development.
- This critical disconnect is attributed to barriers like inadequate staffing and restrictive policies, which systematically limit nurses’ strategic involvement despite their recognized operational importance during disasters.
- The study concludes that policy changes are urgently needed to expand nursing leadership roles to improve health system performance, equity, and resilience against future global health crises.
Summary
A recent scoping review investigated the global contribution of the nursing workforce to health system resilience. Despite nurses delivering an estimated 80% of direct patient care and the World Health Organization’s call to strengthen their role, a recognized gap exists in the synthesized literature examining their involvement in resilience strategy. Researchers from the University of Michigan conducted this review to systematically explore the extent of nursing contributions, defining health system resilience as the capacity to effectively absorb shocks, such as disasters, while maintaining essential health services.
The Joanna Briggs Institute methodology was employed to search PubMed, CINAHL, and Scopus for relevant literature published from 2006 to April 2024. An initial search yielded 795 articles, with 11 studies meeting the inclusion criteria for a final narrative synthesis. The analysis of these studies revealed a significant disparity between recommendation and practice. While 8 of the 11 articles (73%) suggested that nurses are involved in operationalizing resilience during disasters and 10 of 11 (91%) called for nurses to assume leadership roles in policy, the review found zero reports in the literature documenting the nursing workforce’s actual role in the planning, development, and leadership of resilient systems.
The authors conclude there is a critical disconnect between the operational importance of nurses and their strategic integration into resilience planning. Identified barriers include inadequate staffing, restrictive policies, and traditional hierarchies. The study, published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances, highlights an urgent need for targeted research on nursing’s impact and advocates for policy changes that expand leadership opportunities. Greater integration of the nursing workforce into system-level planning is essential to improve health system performance, equity, and resilience, particularly within disaster contexts.
Link to the article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666142X25000682
References Kruger, K., Brysiewicz, P., Lori, J., & Bell, S. A. (2025). The role of the nursing workforce in health system resilience during disasters: A scoping review of empirical studies. International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances, 9, 100361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnsa.2025.100361
