Nursing informatics competency has crucial functions in the development of a hospital and patient safety. On the basis of the theory of self-concept, there has been an inadequate study of the influence of transformational leadership on nursing informatics competency mediated by innovation self-efficacy. A descriptive correlational research design was conducted for 586 Chinese nurses from five public hospitals. The measurements were obtained from a questionnaire on transformational leadership, nursing informatics competency, innovation self-efficacy, and a sociodemographic datasheet. We identified a positive correlation between transformational leadership and nursing informatics competency. Innovation self-efficacy had a mediating effect. Managers need to provide measures to shape their transformational leadership style and promote innovation self-efficacy of nurses, which enhances nursing informatics competency of nurses.
Keywords: China; Transformational leadership; innovation self-efficacy; nurse; nursing informatics competency.