Determinants of Nurses’ Emotional Well-Being: A Systematic Review

Abstract

This systematic review synthesises evidence on the determinants of nurses’ emotional well-being across clinical settings and clarifies how occupational demands, organisational resources, relational conditions, personal capacities, ethical pressures, and work-family circumstances shape adverse and positive outcomes. A PRISMA-informed search of the predefined 11-year publication window, supplemented by a subsequent update, identified 47 eligible studies. Evidence was appraised, extracted, and coded across fourteen determinants, then examined through frequency mapping and theory-informed narrative synthesis. Excessive workload, inadequate staffing, long or irregular shifts, workplace violence, moral distress, and work-family conflict were consistently associated with exhaustion, burnout, psychological distress, or reduced satisfaction. Supportive leadership, organisational and peer support, autonomy, recognition, healthy work climates, resilience, and mindfulness generally operated as protective resources, although individual capacities offered limited protection when harmful organisational conditions persisted. The synthesis integrates Job Demands-Resources theory, Conservation of Resources theory, self-determination theory, and moral resilience scholarship. It distinguishes research frequency from evidential influence, identifies underexamined determinants, and establishes priorities for longitudinal, multilevel, comparative, intervention, and measurement-focused research on nursing workforce well-being.