Abstract: Objective To explore the relationship between perceived authentic leadership,organizational silence,and workplace social capital among clinical nurses,and to provide a new perspective for improving hospital management quality. Methods From January to April 2024,595 clinical nurses from 9 general hospitals in Guangdong Province and 2 general hospitals in Chongqing were surveyed by general information questionnaire,authentic leadership questionnaire,nurse organizational silence evaluation questionnaire and workplace social capital scale by convenient sampling method,and the data were analyzed. Results The total scores of clinical nurses' authentic leadership,organizational silence and workplace social capital were （69.44±12.63）,（46.61±20.74） and （33.79±6.70）points,respectively. There were statistically significant differences in authentic leadership scores among clinical nurses of different ages and average monthly incomes（both P<0.05）. There were statistically significant differences in organizational silence among clinical nurses of different professional titles and working years in the unit（both P<0.05）. There were statistically significant differences in workplace social capital scores among clinical nurses of different ages,professional titles and average monthly incomes（all P<0.05）. Authentic leadership was negatively correlated with organizational silence,while positively correlated with workplace social capital,and workplace social capital was negatively correlated with organizational silence（all P<0.01）. Workplace social capital had a complete mediating effect between clinical nurses' authentic leadership and organizational silence,and the mediating effect was -0.333,accounting for 69.52% of the total effect. Conclusion The organizational silence of clinical nurses is at a medium level,and authentic leadership and workplace social capital have a mitigating effect on organizational silence. Nursing managers should strengthen the cultivation of authentic leadership and improve the level of workplace social capital to reduce the organizational silence of nurses.

Key words: Authentic leadership, Organizational silence, Workplace social capital, Clinical nurse, Mediation, Path analysis