Literature review
Nurse innovation
Nurse innovation involves applying new ideas, techniques or procedures in healthcare practices to reduce care costs, satisfy patient needs and improve job productivity (Hughes
2006). Amo (2006) highlighted that nurse innovation refers to the empowerment of nursing employees to improve job procedures, which involves inviting other healthcare workers
to participate in the improvement process and then implement the improvements independently. Knol and van Linge (2009) claimed that nurse innovation is a motivational
and cognitive process involved in nursing practice. In addition to the generation, processing and realisation of creativity, acceptance of the innovation results and seeking support from and cooperation with other people are also included in nurse innovation. Thus, the diffusion of innovation (i.e. whether innovative behaviours are acceptable, acknowledged and ultimately adopted) is a crucial connotation of nurse innovation. Chang and Liu (2008) defined innovative behaviour as ‘the intentional generation, promotion,and realisation of new ideas within a work role, work group or organisation’. Weng et al. (2013) also adopted the similar concept to define nurse innovation as the process through which nurses generate, establish, evaluate and realize innovative new techniques, procedures or projects in their hospitals and then transform them into new products or services that customers can accept. In addition, they also indicated that nursing innovation is composed of knowledge
creation, innovation behaviour and innovation diffusion dimensions displayed by the nurse during nursing care.