TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOUR AMONG NURSES WORKING IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS IN UGANDA: THE MEDIATING EFFECT OF ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE

Abstract

Uganda’s public hospitals continue to face critical workforce challenges, including weak leadership systems, low morale, and limited organizational support, which collectively undermine nurses’ willingness to engage in discretionary behaviours essential for effective service delivery. Understanding how leadership can enhance organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) is therefore vital in such resource constrained health systems. Guided by Social Exchange Theory and Social Learning Theory, this study examines the effect of transformational leadership on OCB among nurses in Uganda’s public hospitals and assesses the mediating role of organizational climate. A quantitative correlational design was employed using a multistage sample of 384 nurses drawn proportionately from public hospitals across Uganda’s four regions. Data were collected using a 5-point Likert-scale questionnaire and analysed using SPSS for descriptive statistics and SmartPLS 4.0 for measurement and structural equation modelling. From the 384 distributed questionnaires, 345 were returned (90% response rate). Measurement model results confirmed reliability and validity (factor loadings > 0.70, CR = 0.72-0.89, AVE > 0.50). Structural model. Findings revealed that transformational leadership significantly predicted OCB (β = 0.206, t = 3.007, p < 0.01) and organizational climate (β = 0.719, t = 14.228, p < 0.001). Organizational climate also had a significant effect on OCB (β = 0.206, t = 3.319, p < 0.01). Mediation analysis demonstrated a significant indirect effect of transformational leadership on OCB through organizational climate (β = 0.091, t = 2.991). The model showed moderate predictive power, with transformational leadership and climate explaining 37% of the variance in OCB, while climate alone explained 51%. The study advances leadership and organizational behaviour literature in under studied African public health contexts by empirically integrating Social Learning Theory and Social Exchange Theory to explain how transformational leadership shapes OCB both through behavioural modelling and reciprocal exchanges facilitated by a supportive climate. Findings highlight the need for public hospitals to strengthen transformational leadership competencies such as individualized consideration, ethical conduct, and intellectual stimulation and to cultivate a fair, supportive, and communicative organizational climate to enhance nurses’ extra-role behaviours critical for improving patient care.