Analysis of potential profile characteristics of clinical nurses' innovative leadership and its network relationship with innovative behavior

Background With the deepening of healthcare system reforms, innovative clinical nursing practices have become a core element for improving medical quality and meeting patients' diverse needs. While innovative leadership serves as a key competency guiding nurses in implementing innovative practices, its distribution characteristics among clinical nurses remain unclear. Moreover, the intrinsic mechanisms linking innovative leadership with nurses' innovative behaviors lack quantitative analysis. Objective This study aims to identify potential profile types of clinical nurses' innovative leadership, construct a network model of innovative leadership and innovative behavior, identify the core nodes and bridge nodes, and provide an empirical basis for improving nurses' innovative ability. Methods A convenience sampling method was employed to select clinical nurses from ten hospitals in Henan Province, China. The study utilized standardized questionnaires, including the General Population Questionnaire, Innovative Leadership Scale, and Nurses' Innovative Behavior Scale. Latent profile analysis was conducted using Mplus 8.3, while single-factor analysis and multivariate logistic regression were performed with SPSS 26.0. Network models were constructed, and centrality and stability analyses were performed using R software packages such as qgraph and bootnet. Results Clinical nurses' innovative leadership was classified into three subgroups: high-innovation ( n  = 149, 14.9%), medium-innovation( n  = 770, 71.0%), and low-innovation( n  = 134, 14.1%). Multivariate logistic regression indicated that gender, position, technical title, working years, employment relationship, participation status of innovation training and innovative behavior were significant predictors of subgroup classification ( P  < 0.05). Network analysis identified 28 positive correlations between innovative leadership and innovative behaviors, with strong connections including Gain support-Realize ideas( r  = 0.75) and Inspire others-Be energetic( r  = 0.66). Core nodes were Be energetic(R _s =3.07) and Realize ideas(R _s =2.80), while bridge nodes were Be energetic(BEI = 1.355) and Realize ideas(BEI = 1.497). Conclusions Three subgroups exist among clinical nurses for innovative leadership, Be energetic and Realize ideas are the core nodes connecting innovative leadership and innovative behavior. Nursing managers can be key targets for tailored interventions to improve the innovative ability of nurses. Trial registration Not applicable.