The Central Role of Nursing in Enhanced Recovery After Surgery for Gynecologic Laparoscopy

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) has become increasingly prominent in gynecologic laparoscopic practice, yet the specific contributions of nursing to its implementation and outcomes remain poorly characterized in the existing literature. This integrative review aimed to synthesize and critically appraise current evidence on the role of nursing across the full perioperative continuum of ERAS in gynecologic laparoscopic surgery, covering both benign and oncologic indications. Guided by the Whittemore and Knafl framework, an integrative review design was employed to synthesize heterogeneous evidence. Five databases (PubMed/MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science) were searched for peer-reviewed studies published between January 2014 and March 2026 using terms related to ERAS, nursing, perioperative care, and gynecologic laparoscopy. Eligible studies reported nursing interventions, roles, or leadership within gynecologic laparoscopic or minimally invasive gynecologic surgery settings. Of 912 records identified, 34 studies met the inclusion criteria after duplicate removal and sequential screening. The findings demonstrate that nurses play a pivotal role throughout the ERAS perioperative continuum, contributing to structured patient education, psychological support, preoperative optimization, maintenance of normothermia, multimodal opioid-sparing analgesia, early mobilization, nurse-led discharge planning, and sustained long-term follow-up after hospital discharge. Long-term follow-up serves not only a supportive function but also an important patient-safety role by facilitating early detection of rare but serious late complications. Across these domains, nursing contributions are consistently associated with shorter hospital stays, reduced opioid use, improved patient satisfaction, and enhanced continuity of care. The expanding role of nurse coordinators as clinical leaders further strengthens protocol adherence and multidisciplinary collaboration. Nursing is therefore a foundational component of effective ERAS delivery in gynecologic laparoscopy. Addressing workforce constraints, generating nursing-specific outcome data, and expanding long-term follow-up capacity are important priorities, while strengthening nursing leadership and thoughtfully integrating digital health tools may further extend and sustain the benefits of ERAS.