A Systematic Review and Meta Synthesis Protocol for Examining the Factors behind African Nurses’ & Midwives Migration

Background There has been an increased rise of African nurses and midwives migrating to high income countries despite varying policies and restrictions to promote retention. The need to comprehensively understand the factors influencing the exodus is critical for policy formulation at the global, national, and facility levels. Aim To provide a comprehensive and a systematic review of the factors influencing African nurses and midwives’ migration to high income countries and the factors influencing such migrations. Methods A systematic review and meta-synthesis design guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement guidelines would be used. Databases including CINAHL, Pubmed, MEDLINE, and EbscoHost will be searched using a PICOS selection criteria framework. Two independent reviewers would be involved in data extraction and meta-synthesis. A third reviewer would provide an arbitrary judgement when disagreements persist after discussion. A meta-synthesis and thematic analysis would be utilised to identify emerging themes and reporting themes identified in the literature. Ethics and dissemination The study does not require ethical approval. The findings would be published in peer-review journals and presented at conferences. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42023395013 Strengths and limitations The study would shed a comprehensive light on factors influencing the migration of African trained nurses outside the continent. This is relevant in informing policies that promote retention. The review is conducted following the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement (PRISMA). The methodology is rigorous and meets the standards of the PRISMA guidelines. Studies published in any language other than English would be excluded. The period restriction set could also limit the number of studies found for a comprehensive review.