Effects of ‘4P’ Theory–Based Training on Innovative Capability in Clinical Nurses: A Pre–Post Study

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a structured innovation training program based on the '4P' theory (Person, Process, Press and Product) in enhancing the innovation capability of clinical nurses. METHODS: We conducted a 1-year training program with 122 nurses at The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University. In this single-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study, data were collected before and after the intervention using questionnaires and analysed with paired-sample t-tests. RESULTS: Compared to the pretraining period, the posttraining scores for innovation capability among all participants, including innovative person, innovative process and innovative press, showed a significant increase (p < 0.05), while no statistically significant difference was observed in the innovative product score (p < 0.05). Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that the improvement in posttraining innovation capability scores was significantly greater in the high-efficiency innovation group (Δ = 8.10 ± 1.74) than in the proactive innovation group (Δ = 5.90 ± 3.29) (F = 21.309, p < 0.05). However, the improvement in posttraining innovative press scores was significantly higher in the proactive innovation group (Δ = 2.92 ± 5.23) compared to that in the high-efficiency innovation group (Δ = 0.46 ± 5.67) (F = 11.699, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that an innovation training strategy based on the '4P' theory effectively enhances the innovation capability of clinical nurses. This is achieved by systematically stimulating individual innovative potential, providing methodological training, creating a supportive environment and promoting outcome translation, thereby validating the clinical applicability of this theory.