Technology-Related Stress and Burnout in Nursing Practice: A Bibliometric and Knowledge Mapping Analysis

BACKGROUND: The rapid expansion of digital health care technologies has substantially transformed nursing practice and has been accompanied by growing concerns regarding technology-related stress and burnout among nurses. Despite the growing body of literature, the intellectual structure and thematic evolution of this field remain insufficiently explored from a bibliometric perspective.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric and knowledge mapping analysis of the literature on technology-related stress and burnout in nursing practice.

METHODS: Bibliographic records were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database. A total of 345 publications published between 2000 and 2026 were analyzed using the Bibliometrix package and Biblioshiny interface in R software. Bibliometric indicators, keyword co-occurrence analysis, thematic mapping, trend topic analysis, and thematic evolution analyses were performed to evaluate the conceptual structure and development in the field.

RESULTS: Scientific production increased markedly after 2020, with an annual growth rate of 15.77%. "Electronic health records," "digital health," "nursing," "nursing informatics," and "burnout" emerged as the dominant research themes. The United States was the leading contributor in publication output, whereas CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing was identified as the most productive journal. Keyword co-occurrence analyses revealed strong relationships among workload, stress, usability, and documentation burden. Furthermore, thematic analyses demonstrated increasing attention toward artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, and generative AI within nursing informatics and digital health care research.

CONCLUSION: The literature has evolved from traditional documentation and workload concerns toward broader digital health and artificial intelligence-related themes. As intelligent health care technologies continue to expand, future research should investigate their relationships with nurses' cognitive workload, perceived usability, and occupational well-being.