The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and the Moral Performance of Nurses

Abstract

Background: Emotional intelligence and moral performance are considered 2 very important components in the quality of care and improvement of patients. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and the moral performance of nurses. Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional study of the correlation type. A number of 220 nurses from the departments (internal and surgery) of medical educational hospitals affiliated with Qazvin University of Medical Sciences were selected by a stratified random sampling method between December 2022 and March 2022. The Standard Questionnaire of Siberia Schering's Emotional Intelligence (Goleman model) and the Nurses' Performance Questionnaire according to the nursing code of ethics were used to collect data. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 26 and descriptive and inferential statistical tests (t-test, Pearson's correlation coefficient, simple and multivariate linear regression). Results: The average scores of emotional intelligence and moral performance were 90.12 ± 11.93 and 124.55 ± 24.62, respectively. Pearson’s correlation test showed a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and moral performance (r = 0.232, P = 0.001). In the examination of emotional intelligence among nurses, 100 nurses (45.5%) obtained scores lower than the overall average of 4.92, while 120 nurses (54.5%) achieved scores higher than the average. In the examination of the frequency of ethical performance scores, the majority of nurses, 158 individuals (71.8%), demonstrated high ethical performance, while 60 individuals (27.3%) exhibited average ethical performance, and only 2 individuals (0.9%) had low ethical performance. The test results also indicated a statistically significant difference between emotional intelligence and job position (P < 0.001) and work experience (P = 0.12), as well as ethical performance of nurses and job position (P = 0.035), work experience (P = 0.001), and gender (P = 0.009). Conclusions: Emotional intelligence and moral performance are 2 important interrelated factors that influence each other. Therefore, these results have important consequences for the policymakers of health care systems, including improving the level and quality of nursing care.