The Influence of Authentic Leadership Perception on Clinical Nurses’ Voice Behaviour and the Mediating Effect of Conscientiousness

Aims and Objectives. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of authentic leadership and conscientiousness on the voice behaviour exhibited by nurses. Background. Clinical nurses, being integral members of the medical system and actively engaged with patients and their families, possess significant influence in addressing various work-related issues and contribute significantly to the advancement of clinical services and the overall stability of hospitals within the nursing team. Consequently, it is imperative to prioritize the consideration of nurses’ recommendations in order to identify the factors that can effectively enhance their enthusiasm in vocalizing their concerns. Design. Data in this cross-sectional descriptive study were collected from March 2021 to August 2021 by the online survey method. Methods. A total of 679 Chinese nurses were surveyed with a Chinese Big Five Personality Inventory Brief Scale, an Authentic Leadership Scale, and a Voice Behaviour Scale. Because the data were normally distributed in our study, Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) was used to conduct the correlation analysis of the study variables. The structural equation model was used to examine the mediating role of conscientiousness. Results. The results showed that the influencing factors of nurses’ voice behavior were education background, employment mode, nursing seniority, and monthly income ( $p<0.05$ ). In addition, authentic leadership, conscientiousness, and voice behaviour were significantly positively correlated (the correlation coefficients are 0.632 and 0.630, respectively, $p<0.05$ ). Conscientiousness plays a partial mediating role in authentic leadership. Conclusion. Authentic leadership was the key to improving the voice behaviour of nurses; as a mediating mechanism, conscientiousness further explained how authentic leadership promoted the voice behaviour of nurses. The effects of authentic leadership, conscientiousness, and voice behaviour could be used to guide the management of clinical nurses. In particular, the authentic leadership style perceived by nurses and the conscientiousness of nurses would contribute to the generation of voice behaviour.