Sustainable healthcare futures: how digital leadership stimulates nurses’ green creativity: a quasi-experimental study | BMC Nursing

In this era of increasing environmental consciousness and the pressing need for sustainable healthcare and digital transformation, nurturing nurses’ green creativity and embracing digital leadership strategies are crucial steps toward a more sustainable future. Green creativity refers to the generation of innovative, eco-friendly ideas, solutions, and practices that address environmental challenges and promote sustainability. By empowering nurses to become catalysts for change, healthcare organizations can enhance their environmental performance [1]. Nurses’ green creativity refers to their ability to generate innovative ideas, solutions, and practices that address environmental challenges and promote sustainability within their healthcare settings [2, 3]. Combining clinical expertise with a deep understanding of ecological issues enables the development of new approaches that minimize environmental impact and optimize resource utilization. Nurses’ green creativity includes actions that advocate for sustainable healthcare policies [4].

Digital leadership describes a social impact technique that uses modern communication technology and digital information to shape the behavior, thinking, feelings, and performance of individuals, organizations, and work groups [5]. Digital leadership is a concept that combines the principles of sustainability with the strategic use of digital technologies such as mobile devices, communications applications, the web, electronic platform tools, artificial intelligence, big data, and functional empowerment to bring about changes in organizational culture, mission, goals, and administrative processes [6].

More broadly, digital leadership refers to the strategic use of digital technologies, including communication platforms, data analytics, and collaborative tools, to guide, inspire, and enhance organizational performance across all sectors [6]. This leadership style drives efficiency, innovation, and data-driven decision-making. In the context of healthcare, digital leadership serves as a catalyst for promoting environmental sustainability. When combined with the principles of green creativity, digital leadership empowers nurses and healthcare professionals to develop innovative solutions to ecological challenges [7].

In the era of digital transformation, nurses can harness the power of technology to drive environmental sustainability initiatives [5]. Digital leadership includes utilizing digital communication platforms, data analytics, and collaborative tools to educate, engage, and empower nurses to embrace sustainable behaviors. Digital innovations that enhance the efficiency of healthcare delivery are encouraged [6]. The convergence of nurses’ green creativity and digital leadership creates a powerful synergy that can propel sustainable change within the nursing profession [7]. By stimulating nurses’ green creativity, organizations can tap into their unique perspectives and insights to identify environmentally friendly solutions and drive innovation. Moreover, digital leaders provide nurses with tools and platforms to amplify their impact, collaborate with peers, and inspire others to adopt sustainable practices [8, 9].

As healthcare professionals, nurses are becoming increasingly aware of the need to incorporate sustainable practices into their daily routines. They understand that sustainable healthcare not only benefits the environment but also enhances patient outcomes and reduces healthcare costs [10]. Creativity is the process by which new ideas are formed, which leads to the development of new methods and the commencement of new actions. This process of transforming unique ideas into profitable and beneficial business practices is the basis of innovation in any organization [11].

Green creativity is described as “the development of new ideas about green products, green services, green processes, or green practices that are judged to be original, novel, and useful” [12]. The concept of green creativity emerged as a response to the growing recognition of the urgent need to address environmental issues such as climate change, resource depletion, pollution, and biodiversity loss [9, 13]. Traditional approaches and practices are often insufficient to address these complex problems, and new ways of thinking and acting are required [14]. Green creativity is critical for sustainable, green, and clean production, alongside producing distinctive green ideas that can lead to green innovation and production [2, 15]. It encourages individuals and organizations to question existing norms, challenge assumptions, and explore alternative solutions that prioritize environmental sustainability [16].

Nurses’ green creativity encompasses a range of actions, such as implementing recycling programs, reducing medical waste, optimizing energy usage, promoting green procurement practices, and advocating for environmentally friendly policies within healthcare institutions [17]. In addition to these actions, nurses can engage in cross-disciplinary collaboration to develop sustainable healthcare systems. For instance, nurses can work closely with environmental engineers to design energy-efficient hospital infrastructure or collaborate with waste management teams to create more effective biomedical waste disposal strategies [16]. Furthermore, nurses play an essential role in educating patients and communities on sustainable healthcare practices, such as minimizing the environmental impact of home-based medical care [15]. The role of nurses is highlighted through green creativity in generating innovative ideas, solutions, and practices that address environmental challenges and promote sustainability within the healthcare sector. As frontline caregivers and advocates for patient well-being, nurses have a unique opportunity to influence and drive positive changes in healthcare practices to minimize environmental impacts [14]. Given the rapid changes in the healthcare landscape and global environment, there is a growing need to find a leadership style that enables organizations to quickly adapt and stay competitive. Digital leadership has emerged as a viable approach, as it leverages digital information and communication technology to keep up with rapid developments [18].

This style of leadership revolves around utilizing digital tools and data to facilitate planning and decision-making and ultimately achieve high-performance results [18]. By embracing data-driven decision-making, fostering agility and collaboration, prioritizing customer centricity, promoting continuous learning and creativity, and enabling remote work, digital leaders can navigate the evolving healthcare organization landscape and maintain their competitive edge [19].

The importance of digital leadership is due to its strategic value in supporting and facilitating the administrative processes, decision-making, and overall functioning of individuals and institutions. It assists leaders in planning and enables the delivery of high-quality services with advanced technical capabilities [20, 21]. Digital leaders leverage technology to gain a competitive edge, optimize operations, make informed decisions, foster innovation, enhance customer experiences, possess technical expertise, and develop talent within their organizations [22, 23].

The healthcare industry grapples with the environmental impact of its practices, and nurses are uniquely positioned to drive positive change through their roles as frontline caregivers and influential leaders [22]. Digital platforms enable leaders to create online communities, social networks, and collaborative spaces where ideas can be shared, best practices can be disseminated, and collective action can be fostered. Leaders can use these platforms to engage stakeholders, raise awareness, and encourage participation in green initiatives [21, 23]. Green creativity and digital leadership are two interconnected concepts that hold immense potential for promoting sustainability and environmental stewardship within the profession [24, 25].

In recent years, digital leadership has been increasingly recognized as a key factor in driving transformation within healthcare systems. Studies have explored how digital leadership influences organizational effectiveness by enabling the integration of digital technologies into healthcare workflows, thus enhancing service delivery and patient outcomes. For example, Laukka et al. emphasized the importance of nurse leaders employing strategic thinking and vision to develop and implement digital solutions that promote both clinical and operational efficiency within healthcare settings [26].

Additionally, the relationship between digital leadership and creativity has been highlighted in other sectors. A study by Öngel found that digital leadership positively impacts individual creativity and employee performance across industries, emphasizing that leaders who effectively leverage digital tools foster innovation among their teams [27].

While research has extensively explored green transformational leadership and its role in fostering green creativity across various sectors, the specific integration of digital leadership into this domain remains underexplored. Unlike traditional leadership, which primarily focuses on personal and organizational influence, digital leadership leverages technological tools and data-driven decision-making to amplify sustainable practices. In the context of nursing, the rapid digitization of healthcare presents a unique opportunity to integrate digital leadership in promoting eco-friendly innovations, yet this relationship has not been fully examined in existing literature.

The current study fills this gap by evaluating how digital leadership directly influences nurses’ green creativity, especially within healthcare settings where sustainability practices are urgently needed. By focusing on nurses, who are often at the forefront of patient care, this research highlights the transformative potential of digital leadership in stimulating environmentally conscious solutions, thereby contributing to both healthcare innovation and sustainability.