Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39789532›Full record

ArticleBMC nursing2025

The experiences of organizational silence among nurses: a qualitative meta-synthesis.

Jingyi Zou, Xiaoxia Zhu, Xue Fu, Xiaojia Zong, Jing Tang, Chunwei Chi, Jinxia Jiang

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In one paragraph

Article in BMC nursing, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  3. Producing Mobility, Withholding Authority: Epistemic Drain and Nursing Sovereignty in Nepal.Nursing philosophy : an international journal for healthcare professionals · 2026
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  9. Workplace ostracism in nursing: a scoping review.Frontiers in public health · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Jingyi Zou *Nursing Department, School of Medicine, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, China.
Xiaoxia Zhu *Central Sterilized Supply Department, First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
Xue FuNursing Department, School of Medicine, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, China.
Xiaojia ZongNursing Department, School of Medicine, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, China.
Jing TangNursing Department, School of Medicine, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, China.
Chunwei ChiSurgical Intensive Care Unit, School of Medicine, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, China. ccw_0321@163.com.
Jinxia JiangNursing Department, School of Medicine, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, China. jiangjinxia99@163.com.

Funding

Shanghai Science and Technology Commission's 2024 Soft Science Research Project for Science and Technology Innovation Action Plan 24692112300
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveA growing body of research shows that the organizational silence among nurses not only affects their job satisfaction and performance but also exacerbates their intention to leave their jobs, posing a threat to the long-term stability of the nursing team. Therefore, the aim of this study was to synthesize existing qualitative research to explore the real experiences of nurses' organizational silence behavior and gain insight into the motivations and feelings behind it.

designA qualitative review. DATA SOURCES: A comprehensive search of the following international databases was performed: PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Psyinfo, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Medline, and Ovid, as well as Chinese databases such as the China Biomedical Database (CBM), Wanfang Database (CECDB), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and VIP Database. REVIEW

methodsAll articles concerning the experiences of organizational silence among nurses were included after thoroughly searching 12 databases. The meta-synthesis method was employed to integrate and assess the included qualitative research literature, utilizing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) to report the review. Two researchers selected and evaluated the relevant literature, which was then analyzed using meta-integration.

resultsFrom a total of 12 articles included in the final analysis, 48 primary findings were extracted, forming 3 main themes and following 8 sub-themes: Individual character, Seniority and experience, Defensive silence, Disregardful silence, Acquiescent silence, Prosocial silence, Causing negative effects, and Causing positive effects were the eight sub-themes under these three main themes.

conclusionNurses' organizational silence manifests in different ways, and the motivations and experiences behind each form are different. Therefore, when managers observe nurses' silent behaviors in the organization, they should identify and assess the motivation and degree of silence and then specifically intervene to reduce the silent behaviors to the greatest possible extent. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.

Indexed as

FeelingsMotivationsNursesOrganizational silenceQualitative research

Identifiers

PMID39789532
PMCPMC11715701

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.