Cent Eur J Nurs Midw 2013, 4(2):589-594

Emotional intelligence of nurses and its role in nursing

Ingrid Juhásová1,*, Ľubica Ilievová1, František Baumgartner2
1 Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Care and Social Work, Trnava University in Trnava, Slovakia
2 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic

Aim: The aim of this study was to identify the level of emotional intelligence (EI) of nurses and to identify differences in the level of EI in relation to their age, length of work experience and education.

Methods: The sample consisted of nurses (n = 280) providing care to patients in four hospitals in the Trnava Region. The mean age of the nurses was 39.64 years (SD = 9.44) and the length of their work experience was 18.7 years (SD = 10.64). The level of EI was measured using questionnaires representing current approaches to understanding of EI. Emotional intelligence as an ability was determined by the Situational Test of Emotional Understanding (SIT-EMO) questionnaire, yielding the overall emotional intelligence score given by the sum of the correct answers. EI as a feature, on the other hand, was assessed by the Schutte EI Scale (SEIS) in which the nurses expressed the extent to which they agree or disagree with each statement on a five-point Likert scale. To analyze the data, methods of descriptive statistics and inductive statistics were used. The data were processed using the SPSS 15.0 statistical software.

Results: A statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) was found between the level of nurses' EI level and their age. In terms of other social demographic data (length of work experience, education), a statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) was not found, although the nurses with a master's degree ranked highest as for their mean level of EI, using both methods.

Conclusion: The results enable to focus attention on the development of nurses' EI through educational institutions. Changes may be encouraged that will contribute to an increase in the quality of nursing care provided. The use of EI is a necessary as well as modern requirement in nursing.

Keywords: emotion, emotional intelligence, nurses, care, nursing

Published: September 30, 2013  Show citation

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Juhásová I, Ilievová Ľ, Baumgartner F. Emotional intelligence of nurses and its role in nursing. Ošetřovatelství a porodní asistence. 2013;4(2):589-594.
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