Objective To translate the Innovative Leadership Scale （ILS） into simplified Chinese and to test its reliability and validity in nurses. Methods Based on Brislin′s translation model, the Chinese version of the ILS was developed through translation, back-translation, cultural adaptation, and pilot survey. Then a convenience sample of 1,148 nurses from 5 tertiary hospitals in Henan Province were surveyed to test the reliability and validity. Results Five factors with eigenvalue greater than one were identified through exploratory factor analysis, which could explain 68.577% of the total variance.Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the data supported the five-factor structure of the ILS (χ2/df=2.855,RMSEA=0.051, CFI=0.933,TLI=0.929, and NFI=0.902). The Chinese version of the ILS included 5 dimensions:being a changemaker, motivating others, being open to new ideas, being entrepreneur, and being energetic, totaling 43 items.The scale-level content validity index (S-CVI)/universal agreement (S-CVI/UA) and S-CVI/average (S-CVI/Ave) was 0.837 and 0.980 respectively. The Cronbach′s alpha coefficient of the total scale was 0.962, the split-half reliability was 0.828, and the test-retest reliability was 0.969. Conclusion The Chinese version of the ILS has good reliability and validity, and can be used to evaluate the innovative leadership of nurses in Chinese culture.