GLOBAL RESEARCH TRENDS ON NURSE BURNOUT WITHIN HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS: A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/IJEPC.1163048Keywords:
Nurse, Burnout, SystemAbstract
The growing complexity of healthcare systems has intensified occupational stress among nurses, making burnout a critical global concern with implications for workforce sustainability and patient care quality. Despite increasing scholarly attention, a thorough understanding of the progression, framework, and influence of research concerning nurse burnout across healthcare systems continues to be insufficient. This study seeks to bridge this gap through a bibliometric analysis designed to examine global research patterns, determine influential scholarly contributions, as well as explore collaborative and thematic developments in the field. A total of 830 publications indexed in the Scopus database from 1985 to May 2026 were retrieved using an advanced search strategy based on three primary keywords: “Nurse,” “Burnout,” and “System.” Data were analyzed through Scopus Analyzer to generate descriptive indicators, OpenRefine to perform data cleansing and standardization, and VOSviewer to construct network visualizations encompassing co-citation, co-authorship, as well as keyword co-occurrence analyses. The results indicate a marked escalation in publication productivity, especially following 2015, with a pronounced surge observed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic era, underscoring intensified global attention toward the issue. The United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States were identified as the predominant contributors with respect to publication output and citation influence, while collaborative networks demonstrated strong inter-country linkages. Keyword analysis highlighted dominant themes such as occupational stress, mental health, resilience, and healthcare system challenges. Highly cited articles predominantly focused on pandemic-related burnout and systemic risk factors. In conclusion, the study demonstrates a rapidly expanding and evolving research landscape on nurse burnout, driven by global health crises and systemic pressures, emphasizing the importance of targeted interventions, interdisciplinary collaboration, as well as policy-oriented approaches to reduce burnout and reinforce healthcare systems across the globe.
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