Nurses’ innovative behaviors play an irreplaceable role in advancing nursing practice, improving healthcare service quality, and driving transformation in the nursing profession. However, existing studies on the factors influencing nurses’ innovative behaviors and their underlying mechanisms remain limited, necessitating further investigation.
Objective
This study investigated the impact of ethical leadership on nurses’ innovative behaviors, examining the mediating roles of innovative climate and self-efficacy.
Research design
This is a multicenter longitudinal study with three-wave data collection (February–August 2024) following STROBE guidelines. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine mediation effects.
Participants and research context
A total of 1,522 nurses from 16 tertiary hospitals in China completed baseline assessments (T1), with 1,409 (T2) and 1,298 (T3) completing follow-ups. Participants were registered nurses with ≥1 year of experience, sampled through stratified cluster sampling across clinical departments.
Ethical considerations
approved by the Henan University Biomedical Research Ethics Committee (HUSOM2023-478). Participants provided informed consent, data were collected anonymously, and confidentiality was maintained throughout.
Results
Ethical leadership significantly predicted innovative behavior (β = 0.334, 95% CI [0.284,0.386]). Both innovative climate (β = 0.059 [0.046, 0.072]) and self-efficacy (β = 0.017 [0.011, 0.023]) served as partial mediators, with a significant chain mediation effect (β = 0.021 [0.015, 0.027]) accounting for 4.87% of total effect.
Conclusion
Ethical leadership not only directly promotes nurses’ innovative behaviors but also strengthens this effect indirectly through the chain-mediated roles of innovative climate and self-efficacy. Enhancing ethical leadership can optimize the innovative climate in nursing departments and improve nurses’ self-efficacy, thereby effectively fostering their innovative behaviors.
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