Emotional Intelligence of Mental Health Nurses

Abstract

Treating or care giving in mental health sector is a very critical work role that needs more care and attention from the part of all stakeholders. Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and regulate the different kinds of emotions in self and others. Highly emotionally intelligent employees are believed to perform better in all walks of life. This study is an attempt to examine the emotional intelligence level of mental healthcare employees in Kerala along with the effects of demographic factors on it. The data for the study were collected from a sample of one hundred nurses from public and private institutions and the tool used to assess the emotional intelligence was Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS). Results of the study indicated that mental health employees in Kerala are at high level of emotional intelligence. They scored highly in all emotional intelligence subscales other than use of emotion. A significant and positive association was found between emotional intelligence and major demographic factors like gender, marital status, experience and organisation. The categories of male, married and highly experienced employees were found to score more on emotional intelligence scale.