The Relationship Between Sleep and Work Engagement Among Nurses: A Scoping Review

Adequate sleep and high work engagement are fundamental for sustaining workers’ health, productivity, and safety, yet sleep deficiency is widespread and linked to cognitive impairment, errors, chronic conditions, and poor mental health (Peng, 2023). In nursing, these issues are especially critical because nurses’ performance directly affects patient safety and quality of care, and irregular shifts, long working hours, and night work are associated with short sleep duration, poor sleep quality, fatigue, and adverse patient outcomes (Caruso, 2014). At the same time, higher work engagement among nurses has been associated with better quality of care, greater patient satisfaction, and lower burnout and turnover intention (Poku, 2025). However, the relationship between nurses’ sleep and work engagement remains insufficiently understood: existing studies suggest that poor sleep and fatigue may erode engagement and job performance (Satterfield, 2013), whereas better sleep appears to correlate with higher engagement (Barber, 2013). In a bibliometric review published in 2026 (Andolšek, 2026), the relationship between sleep and work performance was examined, and the importance of sleep and work engagement among nurses was highlighted. However, to date, no review has specifically focused on the relationship between sleep and work engagement among nurses. Therefore, this scoping review aims to comprehensively clarify the association between nurses’ sleep and work engagement.