Abstract
OBJECTIVE: In an increasingly competitive healthcare climate, ensuring an innovative nursing workforce is essential for organizational success and survival.
BACKGROUND: The authors aimed to evaluate the literature examining the association between leadership styles and innovative behaviors in the nursing workforce.
METHODS: A systematic review of articles from 5 databases was conducted from August 2022 to October 2022.
RESULTS: A total of 21 articles published in the English language were included in the review. This study provides evidence for the vital role of "relationship-oriented" leadership styles in fostering innovative behaviors among nurses. However, more research is needed to examine how "task-oriented" leadership styles contribute to innovativeness in nurses. Twelve mediators linking leadership styles to healthcare workers' innovative behaviors were identified and clustered into motivation-based, relation-based, and affective mediators.
CONCLUSION: Organizational strategies to foster relationship-based leadership styles among healthcare leaders are vital to support nurses' innovative behaviors.