Job crafting and innovative behavior among nurses: The serial mediating effect of team psychological safety and perceived organizational support.

Abstract

Nurses' innovative behavior plays an important role in improving nursing quality and patient safety. Although job crafting has been reported to be associated with innovative behavior, the underlying mechanisms among nurses remain insufficiently understood. This study aimed to examine the associations among job crafting, team psychological safety, perceived organizational support, and innovative behavior, as well as the individual and serial mediating associations of team psychological safety and perceived organizational support. A cross-sectional correlational study was conducted among 449 nurses from tertiary hospitals in Southwest China. Data were collected using self-reported questionnaires in accordance with the STROBE guidelines. SPSS 27.0 was used for descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analyses, and Amos 28.0 was used to construct a structural equation model (SEM). Bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples was performed to examine indirect associations. A CFA demonstrated acceptable model fit (χ²/df = 2.822, RMSEA = 0.064, CFI = 0.923, TLI = 0.908, IFI = 0.924). Job crafting was positively associated with innovative behavior (r = 0.473, p < 0.001). Team psychological safety and perceived organizational support both showed significant mediating associations between job crafting and innovative behavior. In addition, team psychological safety and perceived organizational support formed a significant serial mediating association between job crafting and innovative behavior, with bootstrap 95% confidence intervals excluding zero. Job crafting may be associated with nurses' innovative behavior directly and indirectly through team psychological safety and perceived organizational support. These findings suggest that nursing managers may promote nurses' innovative participation by encouraging proactive work adjustment, strengthening psychologically safe team climates, and enhancing organizational support resources.