The Malawi government established and implemented various talent management practices within public hospitals in the country to enhance accessibility, productivity and energy of its health personnel, and to boost the quality of health service delivery. Innovative work behaviours such as the creation, introduction and application of new ideas are key to achieving productivity, accessibility and energy of health personnel. The sure way of achieving innovative work behaviour is through the implementation of talent management. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of talent management on innovative work behaviour of registered nurses in public hospitals of Malawi. A quantitative research approach was employed, and an adapted Innovative Work Behaviour Questionnaire (IWB) was administered to a convenience sample of 947 (N=947) registered nurses in public hospitals of Malawi. The results of the study showed that talent management practices did not contribute to innovative work behaviour of registered nurses in public hospitals of Malawi. The study, therefore, recommends that management of public hospitals should pay attention to effective talent management practices of healthcare workers, particularly that of nurses in public hospitals. The implication of this study to management in public hospitals is that the results can be used to improve the application of talent management practices at healthcare facilities and help to advance innovative work behaviour of healthcare workers.