Abstract: Objective: To systematically evaluate qualitative studies of cancer survivors’ experience regarding returning to work so as to provide evidences for nursing interventions. Methods: Relevant qualitative studies were retrieved from PubMed, Embase, CINHAL, Medline, Web of Science, PsycINFO, The Cochrane Library, CBM, Wanfang Data, CNKI and VIP from inception to December 2019. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme for qualitative studies (2018 edition) was used to evaluate the quality of these studies. Meta-aggregation was applied to integrate the results. Results: Totally 10 original studies were included from which 66 research results were refined, 11 categories were summarized and 4 themes were synthesized including: cancer survivors returned to work with diversified motivations; many factors could affect this process; various needs were involved for cancer survivors to return to work; cancer survivors were experienced in successfully returning to work. Conclusion: Cancer survivors had encountered many challenges in returning to work. Nurses should understand their feelings and successful experiences acquired during returning to work, which could provide references and guidance for the construction of targeted vocational rehabilitation programs, and increase the chance of their returning to work.

Key words: cancer survivors; return to work; qualitative research; Meta-synthesis