Leveraging Supervisor Knowledge Sharing Behavior and Organizational Absorptive Capacity on Nurses’ Creativity

Abstract

Background. Nurses’ creativity is an imperative necessity for healthcare organizations to grow. The creative abilities of nurses are affected by many factors; some of these factors are stimulants and some of these are inhibitors. Supervisors’ knowledge sharing behavior and the capacity to absorb new knowledge and technologies are important factors in the recent era that delineate the creativity of nurses. Aim of the Study. Assess the effect of supervisor knowledge sharing behavior and organizational absorptive capacity on nurses' creativity. Method. Cross-sectional multicenter descriptive correlational exploratory research design was used to conduct the study. Data were collected conveniently from 700 nurses recruited from five large hospitals at Alexandria, Egypt, using three self-administered printed questionnaires. Findings were investigated via descriptive and inferential statistics as well as structured equation modeling. Results. Nurses’ creativity was positively associated with supervisor knowledge sharing behavior and organizational absorptive behavior (r = 0.619, $p$ value <0.001, and r = 0.545, $p$ value <0.001, respectively). Supervisor knowledge sharing behavior accounted for 87% of variance in nurses’ creativity, while organizational absorptive capacity accounted for 55% of variance in nurses’ creativity. Conclusion. Supervisors’ knowledge sharing behavior and absorptive capacity of organization are powerful significant stimulants for nurses’ creativity. Implications to Nursing Management. Hospital directors, managers, and nursing leaders should cultivate knowledge sharing behavior in healthcare settings by establishing a reward and incentive system for healthcare workers who share their knowledge with their colleagues for mutual benefit and organizational development.