BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF OPERATING ROOM SUSTAINABILITY USING VISUAL MAPPING METHOD (2005-2025)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55197/qjmhs.v5i2.187Keywords:
operating room nurse, surgical sustainability, public and environmental health, carbon footprint, bibliometric analysisAbstract
This study aims to comprehensively reveal the academic contributions, trends, and gaps of nurses and operating theatre nurses in the field of sustainability through a 20-year bibliometric analysis. In this bibliometric analysis, scientific articles published between 2005 and 2025 were scanned in the Web of Science database using the keyword “operating room sustainability”. Publication trends, citation networks, author collaborations, and global distributions were analysed bibliometrically using VOSviewer and Bibliometrix (R package). The findings obtained from this analysis were visualised and interpreted through graphs and tables. The analysis yielded 572 publications. A striking increase in publications at the intersection of nursing and sustainability has been observed over the past two decades. Research has particularly focused on energy efficiency, waste management, environmental awareness education, and the development of sustainable health policies. The greatest contributions were found to come from the USA, Canada, the UK, and Australia, with rising momentum observed in Turkey and some European countries. Collaboration networks indicate a rapid increase in multidisciplinary and systems-focused studies. Nurses are no longer merely caregivers but also advocates for planetary health. To strengthen this leadership role, practice-based research, policy innovation, and the integration of sustainability topics into nursing education are required. The findings from this bibliometric review provide a roadmap for building greener hospitals, resilient health systems, and a healthy planet.
References
[1] Abdelrahman, M., Hussien, R., Othman, A., Al-Mutairi, K. (2025): Towards a greener future: Nursing students’ climate consciousness and green purchasing intentions. – BMC Nursing 24: 8p.
[2] Akbulut, S.C.Y., Özsoy, H. (2025): Carbon footprint in the operating theatre: A bibliometric analysis. – Journal of Perianesthesia Nursing 12p.
[3] Almukhtar, A., Batcup, C., Bowman, M., Harris, T. (2024): Barriers and facilitators to sustainable operating theatres: A systematic review using the Theoretical Domains Framework. – International Journal of Surgery 110(1): 554-568.
[4] Álvarez-Nieto, C., Parra-Anguita, L., Álvarez-García, C., Moreno-Pérez, A. (2024): Sustainability education in nursing degree for climate-smart healthcare: A quasi-experimental study. – International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 25: 278-292.
[5] Aria, M., Cuccurullo, C. (2017): Bibliometrix: An R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis. – Journal of Informetrics 11: 959-975.
[6] Asfaw, S.H., Galway, U., Hata, T., Nakagawa, Y., Suzuki, M. (2021): Surgery, anaesthesia, and pathology: A practical primer on greening the delivery of surgical care. – Journal of Climate Change and Health 4: 9p.
[7] Atalla, A.D.G., Mostafa, W.H., Ali, M.S.S., Abdelrahman, M.A., Osman, R.A. (2024): Inspiring nurses’ sustainability mindset: Exploring the mediating role of organisational culture on the relationship between pro-social leader behaviours and nurses’ sustainability consciousness. – BMC Nursing 23: 10p.
[8] Bilec, M.M., Thiel, C.L., Woods, N.C., Rutten, M. (2018): Strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from laparoscopic surgery. – American Journal of Public Health 108: S158-S164.
[9] Cobo, M.J., López-Herrera, A.G., Herrera-Viedma, E., Herrera, F. (2011): Science mapping software tools: Review, analysis, and cooperative study among tools. – Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 62: 1382-1402.
[10] De Ridder, E.F., Friedericy, H.J., van der Eijk, A.C., Janssen, M. (2022): A new method to improve the environmental sustainability of the operating room: Healthcare Sustainability Mode and Effect Analysis (HSMEA). – Sustainability 14: 10p.
[11] Flynn, F.M., Martinsen, S.S., Øiseth, F., Hansen, R. (2025): Sustainability in the operating room: A cross-sectional survey of nurse anaesthetists' and operating room nurses' views and practice. – BMC Nursing 24: 9p.
[12] González-Pizarro, P., Koch, S., Muret, J., Fernández, R., Pérez, L. (2023): Environmental sustainability in the operating theatre: A worldwide survey among anaesthesiologists. – European Journal of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care 2: 10p.
[13] Klarenbeek, I.C., Janssen, E.R., Willems, P.C., Van Den Berg, J. (2025): Waste in orthopaedic surgery; an application of the Healthcare Sustainability Mode and Effect Analysis. – International Orthopaedics 12p.
[14] Leppänen, T., Kvist, T., McDermott-Levy, R., Johansson, S. (2022): Nurses’ and nurse managers’ perceptions of sustainable development in perioperative work: A qualitative study. – Journal of Clinical Nursing 31: 1061-1072.
[15] Luque-Alcaraz, O.M., Aparicio-Martínez, P., Gomera, A., Fontanesi, L., García, L., Pérez, R. (2022): Nurses as agents for achieving environmentally sustainable health systems: A bibliometric analysis. – Journal of Nursing Management 30: 3900-3908.
[16] Luque-Alcaraz, O.M., Aparicio-Martínez, P., Gomera, A., Fontanesi, L., García, L., Pérez, R., Rodríguez, S. (2024): The environmental awareness of nurses as environmentally sustainable healthcare leaders: A mixed-method analysis. – BMC Nursing 23: 12p.
[17] Richardson, J., Grose, J., Bradbury, M., Stenhouse, R. (2017): Developing awareness of sustainability in nursing and midwifery using a scenario-based approach: Evidence from a pre and post educational intervention study. – Nurse Education Today 54: 51-55.
[18] Sherman, J.D., Raibley, L.A., Eckelman, M.J., Arabi, S. (2019): Life cycle assessment and cost analysis of operating theatre supplies in US hospitals. – Anesthesia & Analgesia 128: 78-88.
[19] Van Eck, N.J., Waltman, L. (2010): Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping. – Scientometrics 84: 523-538.
[20] Van Eck, N.J., Waltman, L. (2007): VOS: A new method for visualising similarities between objects. – In Advances in Data Analysis, Springer 8p.
[21] World Health Organization (WHO) (2017): Environmentally sustainable health systems: A strategic document. – WHO, Geneva 45p.
[22] Zoromba, M.A., El-Gazar, H.E., Mohamed, A.S., Hassan, M.A. (2025): Nurses’ attitudes, practices, and barriers toward sustainability behaviours: A qualitative study. – BMC Nursing 24: 10p.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 TULIN KURT ALKAN
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
