Network Architecture of Digital Leadership: Identifying Affective Commitment Bridges and Intervention Leverage Points Among Chinese Nursing Managers

BACKGROUND: Digital transformation in healthcare frequently underperforms because organizations treat it as technical installation rather than sociotechnical redesign, underinvesting in the human-centered psychological dimensions of change leadership among nursing managers. Prior research has predominantly employed linear, variable-centered models that obscure conditional interdependencies among leadership, commitment, and innovation constructs, leaving the network architecture through which these factors jointly configure transformation readiness largely unmapped. OBJECTIVE: To examine the network structure linking digital leadership, commitment to change, and creative self-efficacy among Chinese nursing managers and identify intervention leverage points for human-centered digital transformation. SETTINGS: Hospitals across multiple Chinese provinces. METHODS: Cross-sectional network analysis of 2764 nursing managers using validated instruments. Network analysis was selected over conventional regression-based approaches for its capacity to model simultaneous conditional dependencies without imposing a priori directional assumptions. Gaussian graphical models with regularized partial correlations identified conditional dependencies. Centrality metrics and bridge analysis determined node importance and cross-domain connections. Bootstrap procedures assessed stability and parameter accuracy. RESULTS: Affective commitment exhibited highest expected influence and was identified as the principal psychological bridge linking leadership to innovation. Continuance commitment showed negative expected influence, suggesting an association with inhibitory network patterns. Positive attitude and track record demonstrated strongest bridge connections from leadership to commitment domains, surpassing technical competencies. Network stability analyses confirmed robust interpretability. CONCLUSIONS: Human-centered digital transformation effectiveness appears associated with cultivating authentic affective commitment rather than compliance-driven engagement. Organizations should prioritize emotion-focused leadership development, eliminate coercive change strategies, and select champions based on optimistic orientation and credible success records as approaches that may support innovation capacity.