Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Corso di laurea in infermieristica - Sede di Modena
| Thesis Title | Emotional Intelligence: A cross-sectional study of emotional competences in nursing students. |
|---|---|
| Name | Munteanu Doina |
| Supervisor(s) | Bigliardi Maria Cristina |
| Academic Year | 2016/17 |
| Thesis type | Non research thesis |
Abstract
The Emotional Intelligence (EI) is identified as a fundamental ability for nurse practicing since it consists of the empathic and communicative capacities necessary to develop an efficient therapeutic nurse-client relationship. The purpose of this descriptive cross-sectional study is to describe the EI scores expressed by 332 students (72 males and 260 females) attending the 3-year Nursing course at University of Modena: 127 first-year students, 103 second-year students and 102 third-year students. The instrument used to measure the expressed EI is an Italian validated version of the “Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire” (TEIQue, 153 items), which includes the global EI index and its main areas: wellness, self-control, emotiveness and social skills. The students of the three years obtained satisfactory EI global scores, which identify the students as emotively competent, with higher values expressed by the third-year students compared to the other two year students without any significant difference. From the comparison of the 3-year students’ EI scores, a significant difference related to gender was observed: males expressed higher score in the self-control area if compared to women (t=-2,76; p=0,006, t-test).
At the first year, the sample presented significant different EI scores (t=-2,58; p=0,01) due to higher global index showed by males than women; this difference reversed in the following two years of course.
By the end of the 3-year university course, all the students expressed improved management and perception of their emotions, without any difference between the two genders. This result allows us to assume a correlation between the university education and the development of emotion control, that becomes a component of professional experience. Our results suggest that EI is a flexible ability which can be taught, developed and trained.