4 Pointers for Enhancing Emotional Intelligence in Nursing

Emotional intelligence or EQ is one of the key factors when it comes to succeeding as a nurse. When a nurse has developed or enhanced their emotional intelligence, they can positively impact and effectively care for the patients. EQ is also one of the soft skills needed in any workplace.

Nursing is a stressful job, and if you, as a nurse, don’t want to let the stress impact the way you care for your patients, you need to enhance your EQ. Here are a few ways nurses can enhance their emotional intelligence.

Be self-aware

Self-awareness is the foundation of emotional intelligence, and it doesn’t come on its own. Being self-aware means you’re in touch with your feelings, emotions, and conscious of what goes on inside your mind. Nurses should be in touch with their emotions, so they interact with and acknowledge the emotions of others effectively.

Shift the Focus Away from Yourself

As professionals, nurses should be able to shift the focus away from themselves and realize that their perspective is limited. To reach and understand a perspective outside of your own is the next step after self-awareness. Without self-awareness, you can’t develop social awareness. To approach patients, you need to understand the patient’s perspective or how the patients must be feeling or thinking in a certain situation.

A nurse studying for a nursing exam in OntarioRecognize Your Own Triggers

Nursing is a job that can get very emotional and impact a person’s emotional and mental health. A lot of people feel burnt out when a job becomes very emotionally taxing. There can be consequences of the burnout nurses experience while working their job. Nurses need to have an understanding of their emotional triggers and what causes them to feel stressed or anxious.

Practice and Control Your Emotional Responses

With the understanding of triggers, the need to control the emotional responses arises. In the face of emotional or overwhelming situations, nurses need to keep calm and approach the situation with a clear head. Certain behaviors and responses need to change when you are developing emotional intelligence. Nurses should also be able to identify any emotional or mental health issues that may be causing them to respond emotionally.

If you’re studying to become a nurse in Canada and preparing for CPRNE, OSCE, NCLEX-RN, RN/RPN jurisprudence exams, or LPN-NCLEX, reach out to Priya Basil. Click here to schedule an appointment today with the Modern Tech Nursing review center. ​​For more information about the Canadian registered nurse examination, call 416 679 9855

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