Relationship between emotional intelligence and communication skills in nurses working in psychiatry clinics: a multicenter study

Abstract

Aim: It is very important to understand the individuals correctly in the health care and treatment, so it is particularly desirable to have communication skills and abilities of nurses to work in psychiatric clinics. The study was designed to identify the relationship between emotional intelligence and communication skills of nurses working in psychiatry clinics. Method: The study was conducted with 51 nurses working in the psychiatry clinics of 5 university training hospitals in Ankara province and who complied with the study criteria. The data were obtained with the “communication skills inventory (CSI)” and “emotional intelligence scale (EIS)’’. Frequency analysis, arithmetic mean, the pearson correlation test, one-way analysis of variance and t test for independent groups were used in the statistical analysis of the data. Result: It was found that the age and educational status of the nurses were variables that predicted the emotional intelligence and communication skills while the working duration in the clinic variable only predicted the communication skills. Nurses with high mean EIS scores were found to have high mean CSI scores as well. We can say that awareness regarding emotional intelligence was higher in nurses who showed healthy communication skills. Conclusion: Understanding humans and their behavior requires a special skill. This study has reached its objective in terms of determining the occupational profiles of nurses working in psychiatry clinics of Ankara province in Turkey. Similar studies being conducted not only for nurses but also for the other members of the treatment team working in internal and surgical clinics will contribute to the self-understanding of professionals who need to possess the skill of understanding and helping others.