Gerontological Nurses’ Feeling of Personal Achievement at Work and Their Emotional Intelligence

Abstract

Background:The universal population aging is associated with rising prevalence of chronic physical and mental disorders. The provision of nursing care to elderly people is challenging. So that the study Aim was to investigate the influence of emotional intelligence (EI) on gerontological nurses' feeling of personal achievement (PA) at work. It is hypothesized that the scores of EI and PA are positively correlated. Subjects and methods: This cross-sectional analytic study was conducted in departments and units providing long-term care for geriatric patients at Beni-Suef University Hospitals on a convenience sample of 157 nurses providing care for these patients. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire that included the Trait Emotional Intelligence Que-Short Form to measure EI, and the Personal Achievement scale, a part of Maslach Burnout Inventory. All research ethics were complied with. Results: Most nurses were female (89.2%), with diploma degree (80.9%) nurses, in age range 20-57 years. Only 11.5% of the nurses had high EI, with mean 4.51 from a maximum score of 7.00; 21.0% of them had high feeling of PA, with a mean score 31.68 out of a maximum of 48.00. PA score has statistically significant positive correlations with all EI domains and with nurse's age and experience years. The multivariate analysis identified EI score as a positive predictor of PA, particularly the domains of self-control and wellbeing. Conclusion and recommendations:Nurses in the study settings have low EI and feeling of PA, EI is a positive predictor of their feeling of PA. Staff development activities and training in EI is recommended for gerontological nurses. Intervention research is suggested to examine the effectiveness of training gerontological nurses in EI on elderly patients' satisfaction with nursing care.