A Systematic Review in The Process of Formation, Development and Content of Nurses' Psychological Contracts

Psychological contract plays a pivotal role in defining employee-organization relationships. Given the complex concept of psychological contracts, and the existence of scattered and diverse information on how to form and develop, and identify the contents of nurses 'psychological contracts in previous research, in this study, the concept of nurses' psychological contract is systematically reviewed and research gaps are identified. To further clarify the concept of psychological contracts research recommendations will be presented to future researchers.

This systematic review conducted from January 6th to January 22, 2022, by searching the keywords separately in the abstract, keywords and titles of the articles in the valid domestic and international databases. Using the proposed case protocols for systematic and meta-analytic review studies, 3124 studies were initially reviewed, which at the end, according to the entry and exit criteria of cross-sectional evaluation tool, 9 papers were entered into the qualitative analysis process.

Various factors such as mutual obligations of employer and nurses, providing support and supportive obligations of employer, type of corporate social responsibility, perceived organizational support, job demands and job resources, methods of attracting nurses (permanent vs temporary contract) and nurses 'expectations play a role in the formation and development of nurses' psychological contracts. Nurses create psychological contracts with their organization through transactional, relational, and ideological types. Various forces, including patients, managers, peers, and colleagues, are involved in creating and shaping psychological contract contents.

Most of the information so far is about the process of formation and development, and the content of transactional and relational psychological contract. Information about the ideological contracts of nurses is very limited and the role of various factors in the process of formation and development of these contracts is unclear. It is also recommended future studies consider the role of time concerning the form and development of various psychological contract contents.