Fostering Innovation in Nursing Teams: Entrepreneurial Leadership, Intrapreneurship, and Innovative Behaviors in Healthcare.

Authors

Maria de Lurdes da Costa Martins, Jorge Miguel Guedes Teixeira, Rui Miguel Barros Cunha Carvalho, Lília Marisa Gonçalves Marta

Published in

Journal of healthcare management / American College of Healthcare Executives. Volume 71. Issue 5. Pages 322-334.

Abstract

This study examines how entrepreneurial leadership influences intrapreneurship among registered nurses through the mediating roles of innovative leader behavior and individual entrepreneurial orientation. The study also aims to clarify the mechanisms through which leadership promotes innovation within healthcare organizations.
A cross-sectional study was conducted with 760 registered nurses working in public and private healthcare institutions in Portugal. Data were collected through an anonymous online survey. Entrepreneurial leadership, innovative leader behavior, individual entrepreneurial orientation, and intrapreneurship were measured using validated instruments. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypothesized relationships and mediation effects.
Entrepreneurial leadership was positively associated with innovative leader behavior and individual entrepreneurial orientation. Innovative leader behavior emerged as the strongest predictor of intrapreneurship. Innovative leader behavior and individual entrepreneurial orientation significantly mediated the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and intrapreneurship. The findings indicate that entrepreneurial leadership promotes intrapreneurship primarily through leaders' visible innovative actions, while individual entrepreneurial orientation provides an additional, though smaller, contribution.
Healthcare executives and nurse managers can strengthen intrapreneurship by fostering entrepreneurial leadership and encouraging leaders to model innovative behaviors. Leadership development programs should emphasize innovation, autonomy, experimentation, and opportunity recognition. Creating psychologically safe work environments and recognizing innovative contributions may enhance nurses' entrepreneurial engagement and support organizational adaptability, service improvement, and long-term innovation capacity.

PMID:
42706815
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 08 Sep 2026.

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