Promoting resilience and lower stress in nurses and improving inpatient experience through emotional intelligence training in China: A randomized controlled trial

Exploring the Link Between Emotional Intelligence and Compassionate Communication in Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

The main purposes of the nursing profession are to protect and improve health and to prevent and heal diseases. It is crucial to investigate the factors that can influence nurses' ability to enhance their performance in their professional lives and conduct the nursing care process more qualitatively and effectively.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to examine the association between emotional intelligence and compassionate communication in nurses.

METHODS

This cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted with 140 nurses working in various units of the public hospital in Kilis, Turkey. Data were collected through a demographic information form, Emotional Intelligence Scale, and Compassionate Communication Scale.

RESULTS

It was determined that nurses' emotional intelligence and compassionate communication were above average. A significant association was found between nurses' emotional intelligence and compassionate communication (F = 16.08, P < .001) and emotional intelligence explains 10% of the variance in compassionate communication (R = 0.323, R2 = 0.104).

CONCLUSIONS

Emotional intelligence and compassionate communication should be taken into consideration so that nurses can recognize and understand patients' emotions, alleviate their hurt, and deliver delicate, kind, and compassionate care.

Effects of interventions to promote resilience in nurses: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Various trials are investigating the effect of digital and face-to-face interventions on nurse resilience; however, it remains unclear whether these interventions have immediate, short-term or long-term effects.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the systematic review is to identify the types of interventions and assess the immediate (<3 months), short-term (3-6 months), and long-term (>6 months) effects of these interventions on nurse resilience.

DESIGN

This systematic review was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (Registered Number: CRD 42023434924), and results are reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses protocol.

METHODS

Data were collated from the databases of CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Embase (OVID), Medline, and Scopus between March and May 2023. The research protocol was determined following the framework of population, exposure, outcomes, and type of study. The articles with full text published between 2000 and 2023 were included. Studies were included if they (1) involved the nurses who provided patient care directly, (2) utilised digital or face-to-face interventions, (3) reported resilience outcomes, and (4) were randomised controlled trials or clinical trials. The JBI critical appraisal tool was utilised to assess the risk of bias for the studies collected.

RESULTS

A total of 18 studies met the criteria and were analysed. Pooled results demonstrated that digital interventions had a statistically significant positive effect on nurse resilience at 4-5-month follow-ups (standardised mean difference [SMD] = 0.71; 95 % CI = 0.13, 1.29; P = 0.02) compared to no interventions. Additionally, pooled data showed no effect on nurse resilience at all the follow-ups, compared to no interventions. No significant results were observed in comparisons of digital or face-to-face interventions between the intervention and control groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The review assessed digital and face-to-face resilience interventions in nurses across 18 trials. Digital methods showed a short-term impact within 4-5 months, whilst face-to-face interventions had no effect during follow-ups. Realistic expectations, ongoing support, and tailored interventions are crucial for nurse resilience enhancement.

TWEETABLE ABSTRACT

It was identified digital interventions had a short-term impact on nurse resilience, whilst face-to-face interventions had no effect during follow-ups @fionayyu.

Effect, feasibility, and acceptability of a Comprehensive Active Resilience Education (CARE) program in emergency nurses exposed to workplace violence: A quasi-experimental, mixed-methods study

BACKGROUND

Workplace violence (WPV) against emergency nurses has been common but unavoidable. Promoting resilience may mitigate the subsequent health harms of workplace violence. Current interventions mainly focused on internal factors related to resilience, though the external factors can influence personal growth.

AIM

To test the effect, feasibility, and acceptability of a Comprehensive Active Resilience Education (CARE) program on promoting resilience in emergency nurses exposed to workplace violence.

DESIGN

This is a two-armed quasi-experimental using mixed methods, following the TREND checklist.

METHODS

This study was conducted from March 2023 to July 2023 in a tertiary hospital in Shanghai, China. Emergency nurses exposed to workplace violence were recruited using cluster sampling and allocated to the intervention and control groups. The intervention group received the CARE program. The control group received no intervention.

RESULTS

71participants were recruited and no participants withdrew during the intervention. The resilience and anxiety scores displayed a significant effect in the group*time interaction effect. After four months, the intervention group demonstrated a significant improvement in resilience and anxiety scores. The intervention group showed greater improvement in coping, perceived organizational support, and depression scores compared to the control group. Two themes of joyful engagement experience and effective intervention were identified from qualitative interviews with the intervention group.

CONCLUSION

The Comprehensive Active Resilience Education (CARE) program was effective, feasible, and acceptable in increasing resilience in emergency nurses exposed to workplace violence. The CARE program we developed can be replicated and integrated into systematic education programs for all nurses to help them maintain their mental health and good job performance while dealing with workplace violence.

The mediating role of resilience between emotional intelligence and academic procrastination in nursing undergraduates: A cross-sectional study

AIM

To investigate the relationship among emotional intelligence (EI), resilience and academic procrastination (AP), and provide suggestions for the development of targeted intervention strategies and lowering of AP level of nursing undergraduates.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

METHODS

Three provincial universities offering nursing courses in China were investigated in this study. A convenience sample of 256 nursing undergraduates from May 2021 to September 2021 were recruited, with a response rate of 91.4%. Data were collected using face-to-face interviews. The survey tools included the General Information Questionnaire, Academic Procrastination Scale, Emotional Intelligence Scale and Resilience Scale. IBM SPSS v19.0 and Amos 22.0 were used for data analysis.

RESULTS

The AP of sampled nursing undergraduates was at the middle level (54.4 ± 21.5). The AP of nursing undergraduates was negatively correlated with EI and resilience. Moreover, the analysis on the mediating role of resilience via structural equation model showed a good fit, with χ2/df = 2.34, RMSEA = 0.07, CFI = 0.99, GFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.98.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

No patient or public contribution.

Does Social and Organizational Support Moderate Emotional Intelligence Training Effectiveness?

Given the dearth of systematic research and inconclusive results regarding the effectiveness of emotional intelligence (EI) training in adult training, this study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of EI training. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of EI training on learning and transfer outcomes, considering underexplored moderation of social and organizational support with experimental and longitudinal research design. Training transfer was measured through changes in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). Participants self-assessed their OCB and CWB levels, while their supervisors also provided evaluations, allowing for separate analysis. Data, from a sample comprising 176 government officials, were collected across different periods and analyzed employing diverse analytical tools. The results revealed positive effects of EI training on training outcomes in both samples but positive moderation effect of social and organizational support on the effect of EI training on training outcomes was observed in the self-evaluation sample but not in the supervisor evaluation sample. The findings advance the debate on social exchange theory and organizational support theory by showing the boundary condition of their applicability. Furthermore, this study clarifies the impact of EI training on training outcomes by emphasizing the nuanced role of social and organizational support.

Thirty years of emotional intelligence: A scoping review of emotional intelligence training programme among nurses

The stressful environment of any healthcare setting can be detrimental to nurses' mental and emotional health. In recent years, emotional intelligence (EI) has emerged as a vital psychological resource that positively impacts mental and emotional health and improves organizational functioning and success. This scoping review aimed to collate, synthesize and outline the research conducted on EI training programmes among nurses to assess their effectiveness in improving staff nurses' EI. Electronic databases of MEDLINE via PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Cochrane, ProQuest, Embase and Web of Science were comprehensively searched for related studies published between 1990 and 2021 (updated in May 2022). Two investigators independently screened the abstracts of the retrieved studies against the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Out of 728 initially retrieved studies, only 7 were included in the final synthesis. The PRISMA-ScR (2018) checklist was used to report the study findings. All the studies included in the review reported a significant improvement in nurses' EI after a training programme. The results also indicate that EI interventions are an effective way to improve nurses' psychological resources (improve resilience and coping skills; reduce anxiety and stress), leadership qualities, job performance and patient experience of nursing care. As nurses are exposed to a wide range of emotions, human pain and suffering, the results of this review suggest that improving the EI skills of nurses through short training programmes is an effective way to maintain their emotional and mental well-being. This scoping review is preregistered in Prospero (CRD42020161084).

Psychological Intervention to Promote Resilience in Nurses: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Nurses primarily focus on caring for others, but they also require care and support to enhance their own resilience. Thus, this study aims to determine the effects of psychological interventions on nurses' resilience support and to define the influence of moderating variables that can affect these effects. The literature search was conducted in 10 electronic databases, and 5 randomized controlled trials and 10 non-randomized controlled trials were finally selected for analysis (a total of 852 participants). Statistical analyses of the effect sizes and homogeneity of the intervention programs were conducted using RevMan 5.3 from the Cochrane Library and the R program. Publication bias in the retrieved studies was tested using contour-enhanced funnel plots. The meta-analysis found that psychological interventions were effective in improving nurses' resilience immediately after the intervention (SMD = 0.59, 95% CI 0.31 to 0.86, Z = 4.18, p < 0.001) and in the short term within three months (SMD = 1.52, 95% CI 0.74 to 2.31, Z = 3.80, p < 0.001). Interventions using emotion regulation, relaxation, and self-compassion were particularly effective, and the intervention period was effective in both a short period of 1 day and a long period of more than 12 weeks. In addition, the optimal one-session time was 121-150 min, and offline interventions were more effective than online interventions. Furthermore, the effect size was affected by the intervention time for one session (QB = 12.02, df = 3, p = 0.007) and the on/offline intervention method (QB = 5.85, df = 1, p = 0.015). These findings may inform the development of targeted interventions and resilience support systems for nurses. However, in the future, more rigorous studies, such as randomized controlled trials, should be conducted to ensure strict control over the variables and to establish a stronger evidence base for the effectiveness of these interventions.

Individual-level interventions for reducing occupational stress in healthcare workers

BACKGROUND

Healthcare workers can suffer from work-related stress as a result of an imbalance of demands, skills and social support at work. This may lead to stress, burnout and psychosomatic problems, and deterioration of service provision. This is an update of a Cochrane Review that was last updated in 2015, which has been split into this review and a review on organisational-level interventions.  OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of stress-reduction interventions targeting individual healthcare workers compared to no intervention, wait list, placebo, no stress-reduction intervention or another type of stress-reduction intervention in reducing stress symptoms.  SEARCH METHODS: We used the previous version of the review as one source of studies (search date: November 2013). We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science and a trials register from 2013 up to February 2022.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included randomised controlled trials (RCT) evaluating the effectiveness of stress interventions directed at healthcare workers. We included only interventions targeted at individual healthcare workers aimed at reducing stress symptoms.  DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Review authors independently selected trials for inclusion, assessed risk of bias and extracted data. We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. We categorised interventions into ones that: 1. focus one's attention on the (modification of the) experience of stress (thoughts, feelings, behaviour);  2. focus one's attention away from the experience of stress by various means of psychological disengagement (e.g. relaxing, exercise);  3. alter work-related risk factors on an individual level; and ones that 4. combine two or more of the above.  The crucial outcome measure was stress symptoms measured with various self-reported questionnaires such as the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), measured at short term (up to and including three months after the intervention ended), medium term (> 3 to 12 months after the intervention ended), and long term follow-up (> 12 months after the intervention ended).  MAIN RESULTS: This is the second update of the original Cochrane Review published in 2006, Issue 4. This review update includes 89 new studies, bringing the total number of studies in the current review to 117 with a total of 11,119 participants randomised.  The number of participants per study arm was ≥ 50 in 32 studies. The most important risk of bias was the lack of blinding of participants.  Focus on the experience of stress versus no intervention/wait list/placebo/no stress-reduction intervention Fifty-two studies studied an intervention in which one's focus is on the experience of stress. Overall, such interventions may result in a reduction in stress symptoms in the short term (standardised mean difference (SMD) -0.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.52 to -0.23; 41 RCTs; 3645 participants; low-certainty evidence) and medium term (SMD -0.43, 95% CI -0.71 to -0.14; 19 RCTs; 1851 participants; low-certainty evidence). The SMD of the short-term result translates back to 4.6 points fewer on the MBI-emotional exhaustion scale (MBI-EE, a scale from 0 to 54). The evidence is very uncertain (one RCT; 68 participants, very low-certainty evidence) about the long-term effect on stress symptoms of focusing one's attention on the experience of stress. Focus away from the experience of stress versus no intervention/wait list/placebo/no stress-reduction intervention  Forty-two studies studied an intervention in which one's focus is away from the experience of stress. Overall, such interventions may result in a reduction in stress symptoms in the short term (SMD -0.55, 95 CI -0.70 to -0.40; 35 RCTs; 2366 participants; low-certainty evidence) and medium term (SMD -0.41 95% CI -0.79 to -0.03; 6 RCTs; 427 participants; low-certainty evidence). The SMD on the short term translates back to 6.8 fewer points on the MBI-EE. No studies reported the long-term effect. Focus on work-related, individual-level factors versus no intervention/no stress-reduction intervention Seven studies studied an intervention in which the focus is on altering work-related factors. The evidence is very uncertain about the short-term effects (no pooled effect estimate; three RCTs; 87 participants; very low-certainty evidence) and medium-term effects and long-term effects (no pooled effect estimate; two RCTs; 152 participants, and one RCT; 161 participants, very low-certainty evidence) of this type of stress management intervention.  A combination of individual-level interventions versus no intervention/wait list/no stress-reduction intervention Seventeen studies studied a combination of interventions. In the short-term, this type of intervention may result in a reduction in stress symptoms (SMD -0.67 95%, CI -0.95 to -0.39; 15 RCTs; 1003 participants; low-certainty evidence). The SMD translates back to 8.2 fewer points on the MBI-EE. On the medium term, a combination of individual-level interventions may result in a reduction in stress symptoms, but the evidence does not exclude no effect (SMD -0.48, 95% CI -0.95 to 0.00; 6 RCTs; 574 participants; low-certainty evidence). The evidence is very uncertain about the long term effects of a combination of interventions on stress symptoms (one RCT, 88 participants; very low-certainty evidence). Focus on stress versus other intervention type  Three studies compared focusing on stress versus focusing away from stress and one study a combination of interventions versus focusing on stress. The evidence is very uncertain about which type of intervention is better or if their effect is similar.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Our review shows that there may be an effect on stress reduction in healthcare workers from individual-level stress interventions, whether they focus one's attention on or away from the experience of stress. This effect may last up to a year after the end of the intervention. A combination of interventions may be beneficial as well, at least in the short term. Long-term effects of individual-level stress management interventions remain unknown. The same applies for interventions on (individual-level) work-related risk factors. The bias assessment of the studies in this review showed the need for methodologically better-designed and executed studies, as nearly all studies suffered from poor reporting of the randomisation procedures, lack of blinding of participants and lack of trial registration. Better-designed trials with larger sample sizes are required to increase the certainty of the evidence. Last, there is a need for more studies on interventions which focus on work-related risk factors.

Profiling health professionals' personality traits, behaviour styles and emotional intelligence: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Non-cognitive traits have been theorised to predict characteristics, career choice and outcomes of health professionals and could represent a homogenous group. This study aims to profile and compare personality traits, behaviour styles and emotional intelligence of health practitioners across a variety of professions.

METHODS

Empirical literature was systematically reviewed. A two-concept search strategy was applied to four databases (CINAHL, PubMed, Embase, ProQuest). Title/abstract and full text articles were screened against inclusion and exclusion criteria. Methodological quality was assessed using Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Data was synthesised narratively and meta-aggregated where feasible.

RESULTS

Three hundred twenty-one studies representing 153 assessment tools of personality (n = 83 studies), behaviour (n = 8), and emotional intelligence (n = 62) were included. Most studies (n = 171) explored personality (medicine, nursing, nursing assistants, dentistry, allied health, paramedics), revealing variation in traits across professions. Behaviour styles were least measured with only ten studies exploring these across four health professions (nursing, medicine, occupational therapy, psychology). Emotional intelligence (n = 146 studies) varied amongst professions (medicine, nursing, dentistry, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, radiology) with all exhibiting average to above-average scores.

CONCLUSION

Personality traits, behaviour styles and emotional intelligence are all key characteristics of health professionals reported in the literature. There is both heterogeneity and homogeneity within and between professional groups. The characterisation and understanding of these non-cognitive traits will aid health professionals to understand their own non-cognitive features and how these might be useful in predicting performance with potential to adapt these to enhance success within their chosen profession.

The impact of emotional intelligence on life satisfaction among Chinese nurses: A chain mediating model

Introduction

Nurses' life satisfaction exerts a positive impact on their professional careers, and it seriously affects their physical and mental health. Low life satisfaction has become a key factor in the global shortage of nurses. Emotional intelligence may protect nurses from negative emotions that can affect the care they provide, as well as their life satisfaction. In this study, we aims to explore the impact of emotional intelligence on life satisfaction, and even verify the chain mediating effect of self-efficacy and resilience on this relationship among Chineses nurses.

Method

The Emotional Intelligence Scale, the General Self, Efficacy Scale, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale were used to survey 709 nurses in southwest China. To analyze mediating effects, SPSS 26.0 and Process V3.3 were used for statistical processing.

Result

Emotional intelligence positively predicted life satisfaction. Meanwhile, it was also found that emotional intelligence and life satisfaction were continuously mediated by self-efficacy and resilience, and the indirect effect value was 0.033, accounting for 17.37%.

Conclusion

This study reveals how emotional intelligence affects nurses' life satisfaction. The results of this study have certain implications for nurses to better balance their career and life. Nursing managers should provide nurses with a favorable working environment from the perspective of positive psychology, improve their sense of self-efficacy and resilience, ultimately improve their life satisfaction.

Analysis of the Effect of Rational Emotional Intervention Combined with Hierarchical Management Mode on Improving the Psychological Stress of Emergency Nurses and Trainee Nurses

Purpose

To explore the effect of rational emotional intervention combined with hierarchical management mode on improving the psychological stress of emergency nurses and trainee nurses.

Methods

50 emergency nurses who worked or practiced in our hospital from June 2019 to May 2021 were selected as the research object. From June 2019 to May 2020, our hospital adopted the traditional management mode. From June 2020 to May 2021, our hospital adopted the rational emotional intervention combined with hierarchical management mode. The psychological state, work stress, stress response, job burnout, and sleep quality of emergency nurses were compared before and after intervention.

Results

Compared with before intervention, the scores of self-rating anxiety scale and self-rating depression scale, the work stress scores, the Maslach burnout inventory score, the Pittsburgh sleep quality index score of emergency nurses decreased after intervention (P < 0.05). Compared with before intervention, the stress coping scores of emergency nurses increased after intervention (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

The rational emotional intervention combined with hierarchical management mode can improve the psychological pressure of emergency nurses and trainee nurses, reduce job burnout, improve stress coping ability, and improve sleep quality.