Emotional intelligence of nursing applicants and factors related to it: A cross-sectional study

Nursing applicants' desire to work in nursing and related factors: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

The desire to work in the nursing profession has recently been identified as an important aspect to consider in the selection process of nursing students but very little is known about nursing applicants' or students' desire to work in nursing.

AIMS

The study aimed to describe and explain the desire of undergraduate nursing applicants to work in nursing.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study design.

METHODS

The Desire to Work in Nursing Instrument was used to collect the data. All nursing applicants (N = 974) who took part in an entrance examination organised in six Universities in October 2018 were eligible to participate. Eight Hundred and Forty-one applicants (response rate 86%, 102 males) participated in the study. Statistical analysis included the use of descriptive statistics and linear regression was used to assess if dependent variables explained the observed outcomes.

RESULTS

A strong desire to work in nursing was demonstrated in all the four areas. The most common reason to desire this work was suitability to nursing and the nature of work, and the least common was the career opportunities. Gender, previous education, and a realistic image best explain the desire.

CONCLUSIONS

The assessment of desire to work in nursing may assist career choice of nursing applicants, and may enhance recruitment and retention in nursing education. Applicants need to be more aware of the career development possibilities. Further studies are needed to investigate if the desire to work in nursing is different to men than to women to inform recruitment strategies.

Virtual Leadership and Nurses' Psychological Stress during COVID-19 in the Tertiary Hospitals of Pakistan: The Role of Emotional Intelligence

Although intelligence has been widely examined in the literature, the correlation of emotional intelligence (EI) has with virtual leadership, work stress, work burnout, and job performance in the nursing profession needs further consideration. Prior studies have confirmed that leadership style and emotional intelligence massively contribute to better outcomes in the nursing profession. Based on these confirmations, this research intended to explore the impact of virtual leadership and EI on work stress, work burnout, and job performance among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. A convenient sampling technique was adopted to select the data sample. To analyze our hypotheses, 274 self-reported surveys were distributed in five tertiary hospitals in Pakistan through a cross-sectional quantitative research design. The hypotheses were tested with SmartPLS-3.3.9. Our findings revealed that virtual leadership and EI have considerably influenced nurses' work stress, burnout level, and job performance. The study concludes that EI significantly moderates virtual leadership and psychological stress among nurses.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Emotional Intelligence Test (EMI-T) for social care and healthcare student selection

AIM

To develop an emotional intelligence (EI) test and evaluate its psychometrics for social and healthcare student selection.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional methodological design.

METHODS

The test was developed based on a systematic review and focus group interviews. Content validity was evaluated with expert panels, and preliminary psychometrics with two pilot studies. Descriptive statistics, correlations and item response theory were used.

DATA SOURCES

Search was conducted in six databases 2018. Focus group interviews were conducted with educators and professionals in 2019. Expert panels with doctoral students, researchers and educators were conducted in 2020. Pilot tests with students were conducted 2020-2021. The developed test was administered to 4808 applicants 2021.

RESULTS

The test included four subscales. Correlations support the test's theoretical structure. The items were mainly easy.

CONCLUSION

The test assesses EI objectively and comprehensively. The item-level distractor analysis can be used for further test development.

IMPACTS

Social care and healthcare students engage in clinical practice early in their studies, and these environments can be emotionally challenging. Assessing EI in student selection with adequate test can help the institutions of higher education to select the students with required abilities to succeed in the studies. The assessment of EI during student selection also provides information higher education institutions could use to develop and provide support interventions. The results may also encourage practice placements to include EI elements as learning objective. The results of this study and especially the use of IRT and detailed distractor analysis to evaluate the psychometric properties of EMI-T can benefit researchers and educators that develop or evaluate objective assessment tools with multiple choice questions.

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE

Emotional intelligence is important for students to enable professional interaction.

Emotional intelligence of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients: A cross-sectional study

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to assess the emotional intelligence of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients.

METHODS

This was a descriptive cross-sectional study that was conducted from May to July 2020 in Tehran, Iran. Nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 were requested to fill in Bradbury and Graves's questionnaire online using a questionnaire in electronic format.

RESULTS

Finally 211 nurses completed the questionnaires. Most of the nurses were working in critical care wards and caring for critical patients (61.6). Nurses' emotional intelligence was reported to be 63.19 (8.22). In general, the nurses' emotional intelligence was moderate. Between the dimensions, self-awareness and self-management had the highest scores. Also, the lowest score was related to self-management. The ward type and complexity of care had no effect on the scores of emotional intelligence. Nurses caring for patients with moderate disease severity had a higher relationship management score than nurses caring for critically ill patients (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The total score of emotional intelligence was moderate. Due to the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic and the possibility of mental and physical fatigue of health care workers, improving emotional intelligence can be effective in resilience and stability of the psychological status of employees.

The impact of an emotion-focused training program on nursing students' emotional awareness and expression: A randomized placebo-controlled study

PURPOSE

This study explores the effects of an emotion-focused training program (EFTP) and an interactive activity (placebo) on nursing students' skills in recognizing and expressing emotions.

DESIGN AND METHODS

The research was conducted as a randomized, placebo and control group, and experimental study with repeated measurements. One hundred and twenty nursing students were randomly assigned to the groups. The EFTP was carried out for 10 sessions in the study group.

FINDINGS

The emotional awareness and emotion expression scores of the students in the training group were significantly higher than those of the students in the placebo and control groups (p < 0.05).

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

The EFTP can be used in the nursing undergraduate curriculum to promote emotional awareness and improve skills of emotional expression.

Developing compassion and emotional intelligence in nursing students: A quasi-experimental study

PURPOSE

This study examined the effect of the Caring Behavior in Nursing course on the compassion and emotional intelligence levels of nursing students.

DESIGN AND METHODS

This quasi-experimental study was carried out using pretest and posttest design. The research sample consisted of the intervention (n = 37) and the control (n = 36) group. Data were collected through "The Emotional Intelligence Evaluation Survey" and "The Compassion Scale."

FINDINGS

It was determined that the compassion levels of the students in the intervention group were statistically significantly higher than the compassion levels of the control group of students.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

It was found that the Caring Behavior in Nursing course was effective in developing compassion.

The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Job Performance During COVID-19 Crisis: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

BACKGROUND

During a pandemic, healthcare professionals encounter various health hazards that affect their personal life and workplace. Emotional intelligence (EI) has a substantial impact on nurses' success and performance in the healthcare industry. However, previous research studies report inconsistent findings regarding how different levels of EI affect job performance (JP), particularly during pandemics. The present study contributes to the literature on this contemporary topic by investigating the impact of EI on JP among nurses during COVID-19 crisis management in Saudi Arabia (SA).

METHODS

In a convenience sampling, 340 nurses from three tertiary hospitals completed an online survey assessing EI and JP during COVID-19 climax levels in March and April, 2020. Only nurses who had direct contact with patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were eligible. The Wong & Law EI scale (WLEIS) was used in a cross-sectional design to determine participants' EI. Empirically, JP was measured by the Individual Work Performance Questionnaire (IWPQ). Data analysis was performed using SPSS statistical software version 20.0 (IBM Corp).

RESULTS

Generally, nurses reported, out of a 5-point Likert scale, moderate to high levels of EI (M = 3.99, SD = 0.434). Nurses in critical care units demonstrated the highest levels of EI, followed by nurses in intensive care, neonatal intensive care, then general nurses. Nurses working in respiratory therapy demonstrated the lowest levels. Across all groups during crisis, nurses reported a significant impact of EI on JP (β = 0.389, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Nurses reported satisfactory levels of EI, and most of their practices were aligned with national standards during COVID-19, but slightly in inverse to EI. However, more research is necessary to understand the greater impact of stressors influencing JP to the extent that levels of EI are no longer satisfactory.