This review will consider studies about CNEs working in acute care hospitals. Recognizing that there are diverse terms used to describe the role of CNEs in the literature, additional search terms will be used to capture relevant sources, including continuing education nurses, resource nurses, advanced practice nurses, or nurse practitioners.

This review will consider literature that pertains to the job satisfaction and turnover intentions of acute care CNEs. Relevant search terms will include: job satisfaction, work satisfaction, job turnover, career turnover, intent to leave, intent to stay, and retention.

This review will consider literature specific to the context of acute care settings, including hospitals, short-stay units, ambulatory care facilities, emergency departments, intensive care, coronary care, cardiology, and many general areas where the patient could become acutely unwell and require stabilization. Studies that include the long-term setting and nonclinical areas will be excluded.

The bibliographic search strategy (see Multimedia Appendix 2) uses various terms to capture the key roles of the CNE, acknowledging the diverse terminology used to describe CNEs within the health care field. This ensures that the review is as inclusive as possible of the relevant literature. The completed scoping review will include all modified search queries for other interfaces within the appendices.

The following databases will be searched: SCOPUS (via Elsevier interface); CINAHL (via EBSCOhost interface); MEDLINE and PsycINFO (via OVID interface); and Web of Science. The search will also include gray literature sources, including ProQuest (Dissertations and Theses Global), along with wider platforms such as Google and Google Scholar to counter the impact of publication bias commonly seen in academic journals, as well as to enhance the depth of understanding within the study topic of interest. This strategic selection of databases and information sources will ensure a comprehensive sweep of health care–specific and broader academic literature.

This review will also use a 3-step search validation procedure to ensure credibility, as follows.

Within the first stage, the search strategy will be applied to a preselected group of relevant articles from CINAHL, identified during the initial literature review. These articles are known to meet the inclusion criteria for the present scoping review. If the proposed search strategy fails to retrieve these articles, the search terms or overall search strategy will be further refined to capture these critical literature sources. In the second stage of search validation, the reviewers will conduct a manual search of leading academic journals to ensure no significant articles of interest are overlooked. Reviewers will also manually examine the reference lists of articles selected for review to identify any further studies, which may not have been captured during the initial search. Finally, as the research team progresses through the screening and review stages, the relevance of articles yielded from the search will be evaluated on a continual basis; the search strategy will be revised as necessary.

The reviewers plan to contact authors for additional information or clarification where necessary. If the need arises, the below-streamlined procedures will be followed: (1) criteria for contact; (2) initial email; (3) follow-up process; and (4) author permission for metadata sharing.

Authors will be contacted if essential data in their study is missing, unclear, or if supplementary or updated information is necessary. For the initial email, the reviewers will write a clear and professional email, outlining the purpose of the present review, the specific information needed, and a reasonable response deadline. Any questions or concerns, which may arise from the corresponding author will also be addressed. In the follow-up process, if there is no response from the author within 2 weeks, the reviewers will send a follow-up reminder email. After a third unanswered attempt, we will consider it a nonresponse, ceasing further contact, and recording this information in a detailed log. Finally, for author permission for metadata sharing, our initial emails will seek author consent to share communication metadata in order to ensure transparency and respect privacy. For consistency and professionalism, we will use standard communication templates from OSF Registries.

We plan to report the outcomes of our contact for transparency and an enhanced understanding of the comprehensiveness of the present review. The report will detail the number of authors contacted, those who responded, and those who provided extra data or clarification of their study findings (including any relevant data or details not published within their study). This information will be summarized and presented within a table, outlining contact attempts, response types, nonresponses, and any other issues encountered. In addition, this information will be included within the “Methods” and “Discussion” sections of our final report to present any potential biases and a full overview of the review’s scope.

The search cutoff date is purposefully scheduled close to the beginning of our review process to ensure the inclusion of the most current and relevant research. However, the adaptability of this protocol is a key feature in enhancing the relevance and currency of the review; the time frame will be viewed as a guiding principle rather than an inflexible rule. The search strategy will be adapted as necessary in response to the available literature. The present protocol will remain flexible in adjusting the frequency of updates in response to the publication rate in the field, reflecting an understanding of the dynamic nature of nursing education research.

Upon search completion, records will be compiled and uploaded to Covidence software for automatic removal of duplicate citations and article review. Two independent reviewers will screen each title and abstract based on the identified inclusion criteria, with a subsequent full-text review of relevant sources to follow. Any reasons for excluding sources will be recorded and reported. Any disagreements between the two independent reviewers will be attempted to be resolved through discussion; if an agreement cannot be reached, a third, senior reviewer will be consulted.

Data will be extracted from studies included in the scoping review by two independent reviewers, documenting various aspects including study details, such as title, authors, year of publication, country of origin of the research team, journal name (if applicable), and funding sources (if mentioned; see Multimedia Appendix 3). The data will include specific information regarding study design, type of study, and specifics including the setting and duration of the research, population studied, sample size, demographic and professional characteristics of the participants, as well as any inclusion or exclusion criteria applied during the assessment of literature. The concept of the study, focused on job satisfaction and turnover intentions among CNEs, will also be recorded, with specific attention paid to how the acute care context impacts the findings.

To ensure a robust analysis, the research team has collaboratively developed and revised the present review protocol and process, led by an experienced member. The reviewers will systematically organize the extracted data pertaining to key themes, author findings, research methodologies, and the context of acute care practice. Next, a thematic analysis will be performed to uncover key themes, patterns, and trends, involving coding of data, theme development, and further refinement. Braun and Clarke’s 6-phase framework [21,22] will be used to conduct thematic analysis, in conjunction with updated guidance from the authors regarding contextual consideration of ideas, flexibility in the development of themes, and documenting ongoing reflection and transparency throughout the process to ensure appropriate reflexivity and confirmability.

Finally, tables and charts (see Multimedia Appendix 4) will be used to create a visual depiction of key findings, including the distribution of literature by publication year, country of origin, research methods, and factors that influence job satisfaction and turnover intention. These visual representations will be complemented with a descriptive summary, which links the results back to the research objectives and questions. In the case that any challenges are encountered during the process (such as data unavailability), the synthesis approach will be adapted, maintaining transparency and providing rationales for any methodological adjustments.