To examine how nurses’ organizational innovation climate mediates the link between head nurses’ research-innovation leadership and nurses’ innovation behavior. Employing convenience sampling, 236 clinical nurses were recruited from four tertiary grade-A hospitals located in Hebei Province, China. Information was obtained via four tools: a general information questionnaire, the head nurses’ research-innovation leadership scale, the nurses’ innovation behavior scale, and the organizational innovation climate scale. SPSS, an online statistical analysis platform, was utilized for descriptive statistics, correlation testing, and structural equation modeling. Head nurses’ research-innovation leadership received a mean total score of 55.32 ± 12.18, placing it in the upper-middle range. Nurses’ organizational innovation climate scored 84.35 ± 11.35 overall, indicating a medium level. Nurses’ innovation behavior had a total mean score of 34.65 ± 6.21, indicating a medium level of innovation behavior. Nurses’ innovation behavior demonstrated positive associations with head nurses’ research-innovation leadership (r = 0.380, P < 0.01) and with organizational innovation climate (r = 0.409, P < 0.01). Organizational innovation climate partially mediated the relationship between head nurses’ research-innovation leadership and nurses’ innovation behavior, explaining 29.6% of the overall effect (95% CI [0.0417~0.1412]); the mediating effect was statistically significant (0 not included in the interval). Head nurses’ research-innovation leadership directly influences nurses’ innovation behavior and indirectly shapes the organizational innovation climate; however, the indirect pathway does not represent the primary influence. Nursing managers ought to strengthen their research and innovation leadership capabilities and deliberately build a supportive organizational environment to foster innovative behavior among nurses.
