Protocol for scoping review on well-being among theatre nurses in large public hospitals in low-income and middle-income countries.

INTRODUCTION: Theatre nurses report higher levels of stress and burn-out due to the nature of their work environment. Workplace stress among nurses is associated with decreased well-being resulting is poor health outcomes for patients. However, evidence on well-being among nurses varies considerably, due to the multiple perspectives, definitions and focus on different aspects of well-being. Existing literature has not been consolidated to map out well-being concepts and instruments. In addition, due to limited research in low-income and middle-income countries, the most contextually relevant instruments for this context has not been identified. The aim of this scoping review is to map out existing literature on well-being, key concepts and instruments used to measure well-being among theatre nurses working in public hospitals in low-income and middle-income countries.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A scoping review guided by the Joanna Briggs Institute's methodological approach will be used. PubMed, Scopus, Ebscohost, Web of Science, Emerald Insight, Informa World, Oxford Journals, ScienceDirect and Google scholar will be searched for literature published from 2000 to date. Reference lists of selected articles will also be reviewed. Two reviewers will conduct the screening of articles and data extraction independently and differences will be resolved through a discussion. Data analysis will be guided by both qualitative and quantitative methods.The scoping review will take place from 1 May 2022 to 1 November 2022, completing the screening, data extraction and analysis phases.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study does not require ethical approval. Findings will be published and shared at events to raise awareness on the importance of monitoring well-being among theatre nurses as a strategy to improve surgical outcomes. The review could shed light on an instrument most suitable for low-income and middle-income contexts.