Nurses’ voice behaviour: an empirical study in Malaysian public hospitals

Abstract

Nurses’ voice behaviour (VB) in public hospitals must be supported, researched, and continuously exposed. Best practices discovered and adapted in hospitals that prevent unprofessional behaviour help to progress healthcare provision. This research paper reports antecedents such as leadership styles, psychological safety (PS), and intrinsic motivation (IM) roles in manoeuvering nurses’ VB in public hospitals, which is primarily uncultivated. Head nurses assisted in distributing and collecting the self-administered questionnaires from chosen significant Malaysian public hospital nurses. This yielded 366 complete and valid survey responses. A partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) assisted with the test for direct and indirect effects between the variables. The study found no evidence of PS and leader-member exchange (LMX) in encouraging nurses’ VB. Empowering leadership (EL) and nurses’ IM were found to influence VB. Stakeholders in public hospitals will benefit from the empirical findings presented in this paper by better understanding the efforts of nurses in championing workplace innovation through a lively voice. Nurse managers and other leaders may use this research paper as a foundation to gauge their hospital practices, make significant reforms, enhance workplace culture, provide better treatment, and run publicly financed hospitals with the utmost trust.