The literature supporting leadership as the most important factor related to organizational success or failure is burgeoning. To a large extent, this may explain why so much research focuses on factors influencing leadership effectiveness. A crucial aspect of leadership research is to determine why some individuals perform effectively in leadership roles while others demonstrate mediocre or low levels of effectiveness. Once measures of individual characteristics have been validated within a relevant context, they become useful sources of information for selecting, placing, and promoting people into leadership positions. The aim of this study was to determine if there are statistically significant differences in emotional intelligence between effective and ineffective leaders. The sample included 114 leaders at the middle management level in a public sector institution in South Africa. Each leader’s effectiveness was rated by themselves (self-rating), as well as by four subordinates, thus involving 570 participants. The EQ-i® was used as a measure of emotional intelligence, while Spangenberg and Theron’s Leadership Behaviour Inventory was used to determine leadership effectiveness. Multivariate analysis of variance indicated that the effective leaders scored significantly higher on the total emotional intelligence measure. They also scored significantly higher on two emotional intelligence composite scales (Interpersonal EQ and Stress Management EQ) and six sub-scales (Self-actualization, Empathy, Social Responsibility, Stress Tolerance, Problem-solving, and Optimism). Points for practitioners The relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership effectiveness seems to warrant organizational consideration of the possible inclusion of emotional intelligence, among other competencies, as a selection and promotion criterion for future leaders. Job analyses and the subsequent identification of job competencies can be used in order to determine, among others, the emotional intelligence requirements of specific leadership tasks, duties, and behaviours at different managerial levels within the organization. Based on such predetermined criteria, valid measures of emotional intelligence could be included as part of the selection and promotion process, along with other desirable individual attributes, such as verbal and numerical abilities, personality attributes, and specific managerial and leadership competencies required for effective leadership specifically within public sector institutions. Leadership development courses may also include programmes to develop emotional intelligence competencies. Potential candidates nominated to attend these courses could be equipped with a vital understanding of their own emotional functioning as well as an awareness of their influence on their followers. The continuous provision of feedback, mentoring, and modelling is also a key consideration in the development of emotional intelligence.
Research studies in the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia suggest that students do not consider psychiatric nursing as a popular career option. According to this research, there is a widespread concern about the nursing shortages in psychiatry. The demand for mental health services continues to grow and there is a need for strategies to recruit nurses for this specialized field. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors preventing undergraduate nursing students in South Africa (SA) from choosing psychiatric nursing as a career. A qualitative research design that aimed to explore and describe was used. Data were collected through the Nominal Group Technique. A sample of convenience of 27 final year nursing students from the School of Nursing at the University of the Free State as well as the Free State School of Nursing, situated in Bloemfontein (SA), voluntarily participated in this research. The following categories emerged from the content analysis of the data: personal factors, working environment, unprofessional behaviour, learning environment and the unclassified category. Psychiatric nursing as a career choice is in a predicament and nursing schools need to implement practical strategies to recruit future nurses for this field.
Background. Nursing education needs to adapt to be relevant to student nurses' learning needs. This study investigates the use of standardised patients (SPs) in a simulated patient interview as a learning strategy to bridge the theory-practice gap. Simulation helps students to develop skills such as communication, higher cognitive thinking, decision-making and problem-solving. There is evidence to support the use of SP case scenarios to enable students to develop their clinical and interpersonal skills in a controlled environment before encountering patients in a clinical setting. Objective. To explore and describe students' experiences of the developed SP scenario for the mental health nursing interview. Methods. A qualitative approach was taken and data were gathered using structured open-ended questions to gather information from 33 undergraduate nursing students after they encountered the SP simulation. Participants' responses were thematically analysed. Results. Nursing students experienced the simulation as challenging, but felt that being able to practise their skills within a safe simulated environment built confidence. They indicated that the experience was not only enjoyable, but that it helped them to integrate theory with practice, develop communication skills and feel professional. Conclusion. SP-simulated practice combined with classroom teaching is important in improving nurses' professed ability to respond to patients' needs. Nursing students need to be interpersonally competent before engaging with mental health users. SP-simulated learning helps student nurses to participate actively in a positive learning process; they then begin to understand the need for linking theory with practice.
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