Effect of emotional intelligence on employee caring behaviour: a study of professional nurses in tertiary health care institutions in Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: The study was based on the theory of Jean Watson about Human Caring and took survey design. Objective: The aim of the study was to study the effect of emotional intelligence on caring behaviour of professional nurses in tertiary health care institutions in Benue State, Nigeria with a focus on the impact of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management on nurses' caring behaviour.

Methods: Fifty eight hundred and sixty (5186) professional nurses of two tertiary health care facilities in Benue State (Federal Medical Centre (312) and Benue State University Teaching Hospital (274) were studied. The numbers of 245 were obtained from the sampling formula suggested by Taro Yamane. The data were obtained through a structured questionnaire, coded and analyzed using SPSS. The hypotheses of the study were tested at the 5% level of significance by regression analysis.

Results: Findings: The study found that caring behaviour of the professional nurses in the tertiary health care institutions in Benue State, Nigeria was significantly influenced by self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.

Conclusion: The conclusion arrived is that there is a high level of relationship between emotional intelligence and caring behaviour in the professional nurses of tertiary health institutions in Benue state. Recognising and actively developing emotional intelligence competences among nurses with poor emotional intelligence in tertiary healthcare institutions in Benue State is necessary in order to ensure quality patient care as emotional intelligence is a trainable and teachable competency.