Effects of interventions aimed at improving nurses’ work engagement in the workplace: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Introduction Work engagement enhances nurses’ physical and mental health, well-being, job performance and satisfaction. This reduces turnover rates and improves patient care quality, making work engagement a crucial factor in the nursing workplace. However, no systematic review or meta-analysis has explored the effects of randomised controlled trial (RCT) interventions aimed at improving nurses’ work engagement. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions, providing healthcare organisations with evidence-based recommendations for enhancing work engagement among nurses.Methods and analysis This systematic review and meta-analysis will use the PICO criteria: (P) nurses, (I) psychosocial interventions, (C) no intervention or non-work engagement interventions and (O) work engagement as a primary outcome. Published studies will be searched by September 2025 using databases such as the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES and the Japan Medical Abstracts Society. Eligible studies must use RCT designs, assess the impact of interventions on nurses’ work engagement and provide adequate data (sample sizes, means and SDs) to calculate effect sizes with 95% CIs. Publications must be written in English or Japanese as original articles. Two reviewers will independently select studies and assess the risk of bias. The methodological quality of the included studies will be evaluated using the Grading of Recommendation Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. A meta-analysis will be conducted for statistical synthesis and publication bias will be assessed using Egger’s test and a visual funnel plot. Heterogeneity will be evaluated using Q statistics.Ethics and dissemination This systematic review and meta-analysis are based on existing studies and do not require ethical approval. The findings will be shared through publications in peer-reviewed international journals and presentations at relevant conferences, symposia and seminars.PROSPERO registration number CRD42024510479.