Autonomy with Ardent Factors and Nurses’ Performance: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Professional autonomy with ardent factors has a significant effect on nurse performance, which ultimately affects patient outcomes. This study aimed to summarize the available literature on the relationship between a sense of autonomy and nurses’ performance to identify the different dimensions of professional autonomy in the healthcare industry and understand how it is measured. It also explores the literature on various dimensions of nursing performance and professional autonomy. The PRISMA guidelines were followed to conduct a current systematic review, and explicit criteria were employed to select relevant articles from 1999 to 2024. Finally, 51 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in this study. After a meticulous review of the selected articles, the current study identified 33 articles that indicated a strong association between autonomy (with ardent factors) and nurses’ performance; the remaining 18 articles showed weak correlations. Additionally, the present study characterized 26 diverse measures for assessing nurses’ performance in hospital settings, which can be classified into seven significant factors: nurses’ performance, professional autonomy, emotional factors, top management support, operational flexibility, risk factors, and turnover intention. The current study highlights that the Nursing Care Performance Framework (NCPF) is a commonly used metric for evaluating nurses’ performance in hospital settings. Moreover, there is a substantial emphasis on interrelated measurements of meaningful work, psychological capital, and hospital performance. This research offers unique value by synthesizing various studies on nurses’ performance and highlighting the Nursing Context Performance Framework (NCPF) and critical constructs used for evaluation.

Keywords: Nurses’ performance, Autonomy, Hospitals, PRISMA guidelines