People's experiences of their involvement in nursing care: a systematic review protocol

People's involvement and participation in their own care are the essential basis of nursing care. This phenomenon can be characterised as an approach based on the integration of the person's values, beliefs, and preferences during nursing care. This process contributes to improve quality of care, improve satisfaction levels, and result in a better experience for people receiving care. To promote the person's participation in nursing care, it is necessary to better understand their experiences about this topic.

To synthesise the available evidence on people's experiences of their involvement and participation in nursing care in a hospital setting.

A systematic review that will be conducted according to the JBI methodology for systematic reviews of qualitative evidence.

The study selection, critical appraisal, and data extraction will be conducted by two independent reviewers. This review will consider studies with a qualitative approach, published and unpublished, in Portuguese, English, or Spanish, with no temporal limit, which include adults, aged 18 years or older, who have experienced an admission to a hospital, that explored people's experiences of their involvement and participation in nursing care in hospital ward settings. Findings will be presented using a meta-aggregation approach and narrative format, and the final synthesised findings will be graded according to the ConQual approach.

It is expected that this qualitative synthesis will inform people, health professionals, and policymakers, allowing them to develop recommendations to promote the person's participation in nursing care.