Transformational Leadership and Organizational Innovation among Nurses in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia: The Moderating Role of Professional Experience

This study examines whether professional experience moderates the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational innovation among registered nurses in public hospitals in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. A secondary quantitative moderation analysis was specified using baseline pre-intervention data from a larger pre-test/post-test parent study, with an analytical sample of 151 registered nurses. Transformational leadership was assessed using the Transformational Leadership Questionnaire, organizational innovation using the Organizational Innovativeness Construct Questionnaire, and professional experience as a continuous moderator. Hierarchical multiple regression using PROCESS Model 1 was applied after mean-centering professional experience. Transformational Leadership Theory provided the principal theoretical basis, complemented by Situational Leadership Theory. The simulated, non-empirical results indicated a significant positive interaction between transformational leadership and professional experience (?? = 0.042, p < .001, 95% CI [0.021, 0.063]). Simple slopes showed that the leadership–innovation relationship was not statistically reliable at low experience (? = 0.153, p = .089), but was positive at mean experience (? = 0.312, p < .001) and stronger at high experience (? = 0.471, p < .001). The findings suggest that professional experience may represent a boundary condition for transformational leadership effectiveness in nursing innovation. However, all reported inferential results are statistically realistic simulations and must not be interpreted as empirical evidence.