Humble Leadership and Nurses’ Career in Healthcare Organizations: The Mediating Role of Public Service Motivation

Abstract

Purpose: This study examines the relationship between humble leadership and nurses’ career in healthcare organizations and investigates whether public service motivation mediates this relationship. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted among registered nurses working in public hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Data were collected from 329 nurses using self-administered questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and regression-based mediation analysis through PROCESS Model 4 with 5,000 bootstrap samples. Findings: The results show that humble leadership was positively associated with nurses’ career (β = 0.52, p < 0.001). Humble leadership also positively predicted public service motivation (β = 0.48, p < 0.001), while public service motivation was positively associated with nurses’ career (β = 0.28, p < 0.001). The indirect effect was significant (β = 0.13, 95% CI [0.06, 0.22]), while the direct effect remained significant (β = 0.39, p < 0.001), indicating partial mediation. Originality/value: The study extends humble leadership research by examining nurses’ career as an important professional outcome and identifies public service motivation as a mechanism linking leadership humility with career outcomes. It also contributes evidence from the relatively under examined South Asian healthcare context, particularly public hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Practical implications: The findings highlight the importance of developing humble leadership behaviors among nurse managers and strengthening nurses’ connection with the broader service mission of healthcare organizations.