The transformational leadership style of nursing plays a critical role in fostering a sustainable environment among nurses [26]. Nursing green transformational leaders use their behavior traits to inspire, motivate, and influence their nursing staff to engage in GB and foster their creativity in their workplace by establishing a favorable work climate [24, 58].
In this context, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of transformational leadership and a green work climate on nurses’ behavioral intentions, actual GB, and green creativity through the following: (1) investigating the relationships between nursing green transformational leadership, the green workplace climate, nurses’ green behavioral intentions, actual GB, and green creativity; (2) exploring the green climate as a mediating mechanism by which nursing green transformational leadership impacts nurses’ green behavioral intentions, actual GB, and green creativity; and (3) exploring the green climate as a moderating mechanism by which nurses’ green behavioral intentions affect nurses’ actual GB.
The current results revealed that nurses perceived nursing green transformational leadership, a green work climate, and their green behavioral intentions, actual GB, and green creativity in their workplace at acceptable levels. Similar results were reported in several studies in Egypt (2021 and 2024) [22, 23], Pakistan (2022) [59], and China (2023) [60].
This was in contrast to two Egyptian studies (2023 and 2024) [21, 61], which reported that nurses highly perceived leadership behavior displayed by immediate managers, a green climate, their GB, and creativity in their workplace. This contrast between the present study and other studies may be attributed to different types of leadership styles (ethical), nurse contexts, environmental attributes of the study setting and types of hospitals, in addition to sample sizes.
In the present study, nursing green transformational leadership had a statistically significant correlation and a significantly positive effect on the green work climate, nurses’ green behavioral intentions, actual GB, and creativity. The present work was similar to numerous industrial and tourism studies, which indicated that the transformational leadership style had positive effects on employee behavior and creativity by encouraging employees to act sustainably at work and be involved in innovative and environmentally friendly activities [27, 29, 35, 47, 59,60,61].
These results were also confirmed by an Egyptian study (2024) in healthcare organizations, which concluded that green transformational leaders influenced the GB and creativity of nurse managers [24]. The present findings are similar to those of other studies in China (2022) [15], Pakistan (2022)[59] and Saudi Arabia (2024) [1], which show that green transformational leaders can effectively engage their followers in actual GB and green creativity by providing them with enough support, resources, and appreciation in industrial settings.
The present findings can be explained by the fact that nurses in the study units may have perceived their managers as convenience role models who were able to set a clear environmental vision and apply good leadership behavior to inspire and motivate nurses to engage in GB and generate creative ideas and activities in their work. Leaders’ transformational behavior can help nurses engage in more GBs and see themselves as more creatively capable. Green transformational leaders influence employees through their green plans, visions, goals, beliefs, and ideas. The present study conforms to the findings of the Pakistani study (2023) [19] and the Egyptian study (2024) [24].
The results of the present study are supported by social exchange, social learning, and social influence theories, which state that green transformational leaders serving as “role models” can be perceived by employees [28, 33, 36,37,38, 42]. Leaders become role models for subordinates. They also build trust and caring relationships with their subordinates to stimulate their environmental awareness and carry out work that supports environmentally friendly behavior. Thus, this can make nurses work more eagerly and, in the end, can increase green creativity. Both leaders and employees can play a significant role in engaging in pro-environmental behaviors and creativity in the workplace [65]. The present findings are supported by the study of Farrukh et al. (2022) [47], who revealed that green transformational leaders have environmental role models that can influence employees’ environmental behavior and creativity.
The present findings were also confirmed by social influence and cognitive theories, which suggest that transformational leadership promotes intrinsic motivation in nurses [19, 35,36,37, 66]. Green transformational leaders can use their behaviors to influence employees to engage in more GB and motivate them to generate creative ideas. Thus, this style of leadership fosters employee creativity by increasing employee involvement in environmental protection through increased environmental awareness [29].
The present study also indicated that nursing green transformational leadership had a beneficial and significant effect on the green work climate. A similar result was reported in a study in South Africa (2023) [35]. The present findings align with those of a study in Iran (2020) [67] at twelve teaching hospitals in Tehran, which demonstrated that a nurse leadership style was found to be an important determinant and promoting factor for the organizational climate.
The present study also revealed that a green organizational climate played a mediating role between nursing green transformational leadership and nurses’ green behavioral intentions, actual GB, and creativity. Both nurses’ actual GB and creativity could be increased and improved if their leaders displayed nursing green transformational leadership in a favorable green work climate. Transformational leadership fosters a positive and supportive work environment where nurses feel valued and motivated. This enhances nurses’ overall behavior and creativity [5, 24, 30, 60, 66].
Additionally, these findings conform to the componential theory of creativity and social exchange theories, which suggests that green leadership plays a definite role in shaping a green climate, which is a factor in stimulating employees’ behavior and creativity. [28, 33, 41, 42].
These results can be attributed to nurses usually tending to engage in GBs and actively responding to generate green creative ideas when managers reasonably build positive organizational climates. A good green climate can help nurses recognize green healthcare activities, help them increase their awareness of environmental protection, and encourage them to exert extra effort during work or nonwork situations, thus increasing their willingness for GB and creativity [65].
Similar findings in different industrial and tourist organizations around the world have shown that a green transformational leadership style significantly impacts employees’ GB and creativity and that this relationship is mediated by the organizational climate [15, 20, 34, 35, 51, 68, 69].
The present study also indicated that a green climate was an essential contextual factor that positively affected GB. Nurses’ perceptions of a green work climate were found to be positively associated with their green behavioral intentions and actual GB. The impact of nurses’ green behavioral intentions on their actual GB was stronger for nurses who worked under a reasonable level of green work climate. Nurses’ green behavioral intentions promote their actual GB through the moderating effect of the green work climate. These results can be explained by nurses’ managers in the study units building a favorable green work climate and work environment characteristics that stimulate nurses’ green behavioral intentions to engage in actual GBs.
The results of the present work also support the theories of Rousseau (1985) [70] and Norton et al. (2014) [71], who suggested that the psychological climate was the best predictor of employee behavior because the psychological climate and employee behavior are individual-level constructs. The psychological climate is a key factor affecting employees’ positive behavioral outcomes. The present results are consistent with those of studies in China (2023) [72], Pakistan (2024) [48], and South Africa (2023) [35], which concluded that employees who have a more positive perception of a green work climate tend to be more involved in GBs.
The present study also revealed a strong positive correlation between nurses’ green behavioral intentions and their actual GB. The present study was supported by the theory of planned behavior, which states that individuals’ behavior is determined by their behavioral intentions [17]. This result was also consistent with a study in China (2021), which asserted that nurses’ green behavioral intention to engage in GB positively influenced their GB in three Chinese hospitals [16]. This finding aligns with the findings of Ansari (2024) [48], who reported that the work climate influences the link between intention and pre-environmental behavior in a significant and positive way.
Theoretical implications
The current study provides five new key theoretical contributions to nursing management and environmental sustainability, specifically regarding the important role of green transformational leadership in shaping a green work climate and fostering nurses’ actual GB and creativity within healthcare settings.
First, the present study makes a novel contribution by being the first systematic investigation of the influence of green transformational leadership on nurses’ green behavioral intentions, actual GB, and creativity, significantly assisting nursing leaders in understanding sustainable healthcare management. Previous studies have focused mainly on investigating how green transformational leadership influences employees’ actual GB and creativity in the industrial and tourism fields [34, 60]. To the best of our knowledge, the role of green transformational leaders has not received much attention from researchers in the healthcare sector.
Second, this study contributes to the literature on the green transformation leadership of nurses working in healthcare settings through the use of creativity componential, social exchange, social cognition, and social influence theories. The current study links green transformational leadership with these theories to explore how green transformational leadership impacts nurses’ green behavioral intentions, actual GB, and creativity through the role of leadership –nurse relationships and fostering a positive green work climate [37, 38, 41, 42].
Third, this study offers actionable insights for assisting nursing leaders in healthcare sectors in understanding the ability of green transformational leadership practices to influence nurses’ green behavioral intentions, actual GB, and creativity through testing the mediating effects of the green work climate. To our knowledge, this approach has not been studied in the extant literature. The present study emphasizes that this specific topic requires more attention from healthcare managers and policymakers to align managerial perceptions with environmental sustainability, establish green practices, and mitigate climate change risks in healthcare systems [16].
Fourth, this study adds new strength to the concept that intentions come from the theory of planned behavior. Individuals’ behavior is determined by their intentions [16, 17]. Intentions depend on the green work climate. Intentions serve as key predictors of actual behaviors within the framework of a sustainable setting [13, 48]. A green work environment involves a culture, policies, and practices related to a sustainable environment in which employees work and follow green practices. This will enhance employees’ intentions to participate actively in environmentally responsible behaviors [48]. According to planned behavior theory, it is clear that people who have environmental concerns perform their tasks in a way that protects them [73].
Fifth, this study provides new insights into how nurses’ green behavioral intentions are translated into actual GB by moderating the green work climate. The green work climate acts as a boundary condition in the relationship between intention and actual GB. If it is not supportive, it may create barriers for nurses in translating their intentions into actual GB.
A green work climate is an essential contextual factor that positively affects GB. Employees usually tend to engage in GBs consistent with the perception of organizational policies and their feelings about what type of behaviors are rewarded by an organization. Thus, employees’ perceptions of their organization’s green climate motivate them to engage in GB in the workplace [32, 74]. The present study was based on the model of Norton et al. (2014) [71], which stated that the work climate was a key factor affecting employees’ positive behavioral outcomes (job engagement, organizational citizenship behavior, and employee performance). Previous studies in the hotel industry concluded that an optimistic green work climate reinforced the association between intention and GB, leading to increased engagement in green activities [75,76].
The study offers a direction to managers and policymakers in healthcare sectors on how to create a positive green work climate that promotes actual GB to foster green practices in healthcare settings. However, little attention has been given to exploring the moderating influence of the green work climate on the relationship between green behavioral intentions and actual GB [13, 48].
Implications for nursing management
Green healthcare activities require leaders who improve their leadership style, are eager to set a clear environment vision, create a favorable green work climate, inspire nurses to engage in actual GB, and foster their green creativity. Therefore, green transformational leadership is essential for encouraging nurses to act sustainably at work, preserving the organizational environment and effectively achieving green healthcare activities.
In this respect, the present study draws upon certain green activity strategies that can be considered in healthcare organizations, such as setting clear workplace policies and procedures to guide nurses in green healthcare activities and establishing monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to reduce environmental hazards and preserve the environment.
These strategies will also include providing green transformational leadership training programs and seminars for all nursing managerial levels in different healthcare facilities to promote a green work climate that is beneficial for nurses, patients and organizations’ outcomes. These programs confirm the nursing-green transformational leadership role and the extent to which hospital and nursing staff could benefit from such green transformational leadership. It is crucial to encourage nursing managers to attend such programs and, more importantly, to support them by providing essential resources for implementing these programs.
Implementing such programs in the actual work situation can improve nurse managers’ GB through three main approaches: (1) providing eco-friendly knowledge about healthcare green practices and policies to motivate nurse managers to establish a green climate in their healthcare settings and perform more required GBs in their workplace; (2) teaching nurse managers how to create a green work climate in their daily work, allowing them to create autonomous motivational states and thereby engage in more GB and foster green creativity; and (3) training nurse managers on spontaneous GBs in their workplace, such as turning off lights and electrical devices when not in use in healthcare settings; disposing waste in appropriately color-coded bins; and sorting patient linens according to dirtiness during patient care and printing double-sided papers. Spontaneous GB is very important when environmental policies and systems are not clearly defined in healthcare organizations.
Nurse managers can foster their nursing green transformational leadership role by inspiring nurses with a clear sustainability vision and lead by role models, creating a supportive green work climate, building trustful and caring relationships with nurses, creating cross-functional collaboration teams and green committees to encourage nurse participation in sustainability activities within healthcare systems, establishing a green culture that encourages the generation of creative and new ideas, providing a high degree of autonomy to generate and share green ideas among nurses and establishing a reward system for motivating nurses to engage in actual GBs.
Furthermore, they should display a personal commitment to green practices in their workplace. This will increase nurses’ motivation and willingness to participate actively in actual GB.
Healthcare organizations also play a definite role in promoting green activities among nurses. They should disseminate green policies, procedures, and practices in such a way that nurses take an interest and have a positive attitude toward them. They may not only make policies and spread them to nurses but also provide resources and incentives to those who are involved in such activities.
Additionally, healthcare organizations should provide support for environmental awareness campaigns and design other green interventions, which will enable nurses to identify the importance of environmental sustainability and enhance their actual GB in the workplace.
Among many other challenges in nursing education is the embedding of green leadership and green healthcare practices into nursing administration courses to foster GBs and green creativity among undergraduate nursing students and meet the imperatives of the health service context of green activities.
The role of green leadership must be emphasized in the curricula by using diverse educational strategies to prepare nursing students to apply their professional role in green healthcare practices and activities. Nursing students should also be provided with support and empowerment to continuously improve their green leadership competencies. This would encourage them to demonstrate green leadership competencies in their clinical areas.
link