Concept analysis of emotional intelligence in nursing

Background & Aim: Emotional intelligence is one of the most important issues that has strong effects on patient nursing care. Currently, a concept analysis approach is considered as one of the most important approaches for nursing knowledge development. Therefore, this narrative study is done by content analysis approach to understand and use emotional intelligence in nursing. Methods & Materials: In this study, Walker and Avant approach was used for the emotional intelligence concept analysis. Using keywords “emotional intelligence and nursing,” 43 related articles published before 2013 in databases including Sid, Iran Medex, PubMed, PsycInfo, and Medline were extracted. Emotional intelligence various definitions, applications, antecedents, consequences, and empirical referents were determined. Results: Four defining attributes of emotional intelligence in different definitions are self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, and management of the social relationship. The emotional intelligence is defined as follows: “The nurse’s constructive ability to demonstrate and facilitate selfawareness, self-management, social awareness, and social relationship management.”. Conclusion: Literature suggests that the emotional intelligence concept has been developing over the past 20 years. Conducting further researches aimed at increasing emotional intelligence in nursing work is recommended.