Succession planning in nursing management: a scoping review

The aim of this review article is to comprehensively examine and analyse the studies and research conducted in the field of succession planning in nursing management.

Succession planning, through the identification and appointment of qualified managers to key leadership positions, helps improve the quality of nursing services.

The present study is a scoping review that was conducted using Arksey and O'Malley's framework. We used English-language databases such as Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest and the Google Scholar search engine. Additionally, for searching Persian-language sources, databases such as the Islamic World Science Citation Center, the Jihad University Journals Bank, Iran-Doc, Elm-Net and the Ministry of Health's of Iran Theses System were employed.

30 documents were selected based on the evaluation for data extraction, aligning with the objectives of the study. The results of the data analysis identified six main categories related to succession planning: barriers, facilitators, requirements, contextualisation, cyclical succession planning and potential succession planner organisation.

Based on the importance of succession planning in nursing management, we recommend using the study's findings to plan and carry out thorough and practical research, formulate guidelines and managerial policies, define hospital goals and missions, and shape the organisational vision.