Strategic communication to strengthen nurses’ professional identity and drive cultural change in healthcare organizations: A JBI scoping review protocol

Strategic communication plays a vital role in healthcare organizations undergoing continuous cultural transformation, yet its impact on reinforcing nurses’ professional identity remains underexplored. Nurses’ professional identity—how they perceive and enact their roles shaped by professional values and social interactions—is fundamental to job satisfaction, resilience, collaboration, and retention. This scoping review protocol outlines a study designed to systematically map and synthesize existing literature on the interaction between strategic communication, professional identity, and cultural change in nursing contexts. Following Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a comprehensive search will be conducted across seven bibliographic databases and multiple grey literature sources for records published from 2000 to 2025, with no language restrictions. Studies will be included if they demonstrate an explicit interaction between these three core concepts, rather than their isolated presence. Two independent reviewers will conduct screening and data extraction. Data extraction and analysis will be guided by three established frameworks: a 14-component strategic communication framework, the ISPIN-IBIN nursing professional identity model, and an eight-dimension cultural transformation framework. Data will be analyzed descriptively and thematically to create an evidence map of communication models, strategies, and actions that strengthen nurses’ professional identity and support sustainable cultural transformation. An interpretative layer will also be incorporated to explore relationships between communication practices, identity construction, and organizational change. The review aims to identify implementation challenges, contextual enablers, and gaps in current knowledge. Findings will offer evidence-informed guidance for nursing leadership, education, and policy to embed identity-driven communication strategies in organizational change initiatives. Ultimately, this work seeks to advance theoretical understanding and practical application of strategic communication to support resilient nursing workforces and improve healthcare organizational culture.