Courageous Leadership, Psychological Safety, and Innovative Work Behavior Among Staff Nurses.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the associations among courageous leadership, innovative work behavior, and psychological safety as self-reported by staff nurses.

BACKGROUND

Psychological safety supports communication and performance in health care, but evidence on the combined role of leadership and innovation among staff nurses remains limited.

METHODS

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 257 staff nurses in Saudi hospitals using validated instruments and data analyzed using correlation and regression analysis statistical techniques.

RESULTS

Nurses reported high psychological safety and perceived leadership as courageous, with moderate innovative behavior. Innovative work behavior showed a weak but significant association with psychological safety, whereas courageous leadership was not significant. The model explained minimal variance (R²=0.017).

CONCLUSION

Innovative work behavior was found to be weakly associated with psychological safety, whereas courageous leadership was not. The findings suggested that psychological safety might be shaped by broader organizational and contextual factors beyond leadership behavior alone.